A New York City man has been arrested and charged with threatening to kidnap and kill Donald Trump. Thomas Welnicki, 72, was arrested Friday in New York. The federal complaint unsealed Monday morning claimed the Rockaway Park, Queens, resident had made multiple threats to law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, against Trump and 12 unnamed members of congress. Trump was not named in the complaint but referred to obliquely as “Individual-1,” and a footnote specifies that he “served as President of the United States from January 20, 2017 until January 20, 2021.”
In July 2020, Welnicki allegedly told the United States Capitol Police that if Trump lost the election and refused to step down, Welnecki would “acquire weapons” and “take him down.”
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“I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I will stand up to fascism,” he allegedly said, and bragged about how easy it would be for him to get a gun. He later added, according to the complaint, “I really hope that God takes [Individual-1] out.”
On Jan. 4, 2021, two days before Trump supporters would storm the U.S. Capitol, Welnicki called the Secret Service’s Long Island Resident Office and left two voicemails. In both messages, he threatened to kill Trump and 12 members of Congress. “I am going to do anything I can to take out [Individual-1],” Welnicki is alleged to have said on the first voicemail. “Oh yeah that’s a threat, come and arrest me. I will do anything I can to take out [Individual-1] and his 12 monkeys….If I had the opportunity to do it in Manhattan that would be awesome….Tomorrow [Individual-1] will be in Georgia, maybe I will.”
On Nov. 8, 2021, Welnicki called the Secret Service’s New York office and repeatedly referred to Trump as Hitler, according to the complaint. He allegedly said, “I will do everything I can to make sure [Individual-1] is dead.”
Most recently, on Dec. 2, 2021, Welnicki allegedly called the New York Secret Service again. The complaint says he talked about how he used to own a .22 caliber firearm, and asked for information on how to schedule a protest at Trump’s residence. “The new civil war could break out and taking up arms against the government is justified when ballots don’t matter,” he allegedly said.
A man who answered Welnicki’s cell number declined to comment. Federal defender Deirdre von Dornum spoke on the same call, identifying herself at Welnicki’s lawyer but offering no further comment. Welnicki will appear in Brooklyn Federal Court Monday afternoon.