BOSTON (WHDH) - An 18-year-old man from Tewksbury appeared in a Boston courtroom Monday, charged with threatening President Donald Trump’s life.
Trenton Touch was charged by criminal complaint with making a threat against the President of the United States, United States Attorney Leah Foley’s Office announced last Thursday.
The FBI says it has evidence that Touch was focused on assassinating Trump, and was in the process of trying to find a gun. The FBI said Touch messaged a photo of him holding a rifle to a friend on Instagram, writing, “it’s time” and “im gonna kill trump.”
Agents said Touch also wrote that he would wait until his long distance shooting accuracy improved.
In an an affadavit written by an FBI special agent who investigated Touch, he showed the court numerous photos of weapons agents recovered after obtaining search warrants for the defendant’s home. They seized numerous knives during the search, but only one gun. Touch’s Defense Attorney Liam Scully said the gun is a replica of a Civil War-era pistol.
Agents said they also recovered a rifle owned by Touch’s grandfather at a home in New Hampshire last month. Touch’s grandfather reported he was only allowed to handle the rifle in his presence.
The FBI says Touch posted a photo of a high-powered weapon with the name Brenton Tarrant written on it. Tarrant was the mass shooter who took more than 50 lives at a mosque in New Zealand in 2019. A court document indicates that the gun Touch posted a photo of looks like the gun Tarrant used in that crime.
Touch also made numerous comments online in support of white supremacy and the murders of people of color, the FBI said. Court documents also revealed he wrote in chat groups about “Helter Skelter,” which was Charles Manson’s vision of a race war between white people and Black people.
Touch also has a pending criminal case in state court, and Scully said they are misdemeanor charges.
Scully told the judge that the court will encounter two very different versions of the defendant, first, the real-world teen who does not do drugs or drink alcohol, who graduated high school in June and studies at a community college, “…and then you have the online persona which has been spelled out with him saying crazy and unpleasant things,” Scully said.
Touch’s family had no comment outside court Monday.
He is being held without bail for at least one week pending a detention hearing.
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