Centre County man gets probation for threats against Donald Trump, MAGA supporters
A Centre County man was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation for threatening political violence against Donald Trump and his supporters on the popular video service TikTok.
Jacob Buckley, 23, of Port Matilda, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann to pay a $500 fine and participate in a mental health treatment program. A federal prosecutor sought a yearlong prison sentence.
Four days before Trump’s second inauguration, the U.S. Secret Service said Buckley twice threatened to kill the president-elect to stave off a “literal oligarchy.”
Responding to a TikTok livestream about Trump, Buckley also wrote “I hate MAGA republicans bro on god I’ll kill all of them.” MAGA is short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
He pleaded guilty in September to a felony count of making threats against the president-elect. PennLive reported Buckley told the judge there was “no excuse for why I did it.”
“I wish I could take it back,” the news platform quoted Buckley as saying.
Defense attorney Arthur P. Fritzinger did not respond Wednesday to an email from the Centre Daily Times. He said in a March filing that Buckley fully cooperated with the investigation and accepted responsibility as soon as federal agents contacted him.
He also said Buckley has worked to rehabilitate himself to address the unspecified mental health issues that gave rise to the threats. Fritzinger said Buckley’s efforts have been “admirable and diligent, and he has made remarkable progress.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Wesley Mishoe pushed for prison time for what he described as another example of the “dark side of digital platforms” and the mounting number of cases of political violence in the U.S.
“Unfortunately, Buckley’s case, which ultimately involved acts of political violence, is not an aberration,” Mishoe wrote in a sentencing memo sent to Brann ahead of the hearing. “Acts of political violence, especially those aimed at public officials, have been on the rise in the United States. Each act of political violence chips away at and undermines our democracy and values.”
Mishoe also urged the judge to send a message to “keyboard warriors” that threatening public officials is a serious crime that merits time behind bars.
“While Buckley might not have physically acted or planned to act on the threats that he made, his conduct is unquestionably serious,” Mishoe wrote. “There also was no reason for him to have made a single threat — certainly not three.”
Citing a presentence investigation report, the prosecutor said Buckley viewed his comment about MAGA Republicans as a “hyperbolic expression of disgust with supporters of the President-elect.” Buckley described having a great childhood and was not under the influence of a controlled substance.
Investigators believe he was only motivated by “some disagreement” with Trump.
