Derek Lopez, 27, was taken into custody Oct. 28 during an El Paso, Illinois, traffic stop conducted by local police with FBI assistance on a federal warrant. A federal complaint alleges explicit online threats, including the statement "I'm gonna kill Donald Trump," a video of a gun pointed at a Trump graphic, and a comment on a Secret Service Instagram post. The FBI says the arrest followed a month-long investigation coordinated with the Secret Service, Illinois State University Police and the El Paso Police Department. Lopez made an initial court appearance Wednesday; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois says he faces up to five years in prison if convicted, with preliminary and detention hearings set for Nov. 3. Earlier in October, Illinois State University removed him from his graduate teaching assistant role after a viral Turning Point USA table-flip, and campus police charged him with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.
