Police: Florida Man Who Threatened to Kill President Trump Caught with Cocaine

A man in West Palm Beach, Florida, is accused of making threats against President Trump via social media.

Police said the suspect, identified as 46-year-old Shannon Depararro Atkins​, was arrested on Friday evening during a traffic stop, the New York Post reported on Saturday.

In a news release, West Palm Beach and police officials said a tip came in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Threat Operations Center from a man in Okeechobee, Florida, who reported the alleged threats against Trump. He then led investigators to the source of the online posts that were apparently seen on Facebook.

The press release continued:

On January 20, a West Palm Beach Police Department detective assigned to the FBI Task Force began the investigation that led to Shannon Depararro Atkins, 46, of 650 Pacific Grove Dr. #6, West Palm Beach. As the investigation progressed, Atkins was monitored and arrested after a traffic stop at about 7:30 p.m., Friday, January 24, 2025, night after a traffic stop. Just before 7:30 p.m., Friday, January 24, 2025, Atkins was pulled over near his home on the 400 block of Pacific Grove Drive, driving a white 2013 BMW 750Li. Atkins was in possession of cocaine at the time of the arrest. He is facing charges of possession of cocaine.

During the interview with detectives, Atkins admitted making the posts. He is at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Main Detention Center, where he faces one count of written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, a second-degree felony. West Palm Beach detectives notified the U.S. Secret Service, who will determine if Atkins will face any federal charges.

Nearly a dozen of Trump’s cabinet picks and appointees had their lives threatened in November, Breitbart News reported.

“The threats, which came on the eve of Thanksgiving, follow two attempts on Trump’s life in recent months, including in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot in the ear,” the outlet said.

In September, an Idaho man allegedly threatened to “personally” kill Trump and reportedly made the threats in calls to his Mar-A-Lago resort, per Breitbart News.

Another Florida man in 2020 was arrested after being accused of threatening to kill Trump in a Facebook live video.