Three University of South Alabama students charged over alleged threats against Trump

Right · 2Three University of South Alabama students were arrested on Friday over alleged threats against President Donald Trump ahead of his evening rally on the Mobile campus, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Fox News. 1 2 Right · 2The Lagniappe Daily reported that each student was charged with threatening the president over social media posts allegedly made in the days before the visit, and that the federal cases were unsealed on Friday afternoon, hours before Trump was due to speak at the university's Mitchell Center. 1 2 Right · 1According to FBI affidavits cited by Lagniappe, federal investigators found the posts while running social media intelligence searches ahead of the visit, then used emergency disclosure requests and information from University of South Alabama police to identify the individuals. 1

Right · 1One student allegedly wrote a threatening remark under a TikTok post about the planned visit, and a third allegedly replied to a TikTok post about Trump's appearance; the content of that reply is not described. 2 Right · 2Another student allegedly posted on X that people would "remember the University of South Alabama the same way they remember Utah Valley University"; investigators noted that Utah Valley University is where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot last year. 1 2 Right · 1Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch said earlier in the week that his office was assisting federal authorities as they monitored social media activity related to the president's appearance. 1

Right · 1The university said the rally was not university-sponsored and that the Republican National Committee had rented the Mitchell Center. It said it "unequivocally condemns any form of threats directed at elected officials or any individual with whom we disagree" and that there is "a clear line between exercising free expression and engaging in intimidation or unlawful conduct." 1 Right · 2Trump held the midterm campaign rally on Friday evening as scheduled, his first in Mobile in roughly 11 years since a 2015 rally, telling the crowd "It sort of all began here" and recognising Burch and university President Jo Bonner. 1 2 Right · 1The students' names and the exact charges and wording of the posts are not given in the coverage. Fox News said it had asked the Department of Justice, FBI, Secret Service and the university for more information. 1