US man charged for framing immigrant in fake plot to kill Trump

The Guardian

2 days ago

Prosecutors in Milwaukee have charged a man with four felonies for attempting to frame an undocumented immigrant he is accused of assaulting, by sending forged letters in the immigrant's name with a threat to kill Donald Trump.
The handwritten, forged letters were mailed to Wisconsin's attorney general, Milwaukee police and US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (Ice). The story received a flood of media attention and was highlighted by the White House and Trump's allies, but appears to have been a hoax.
WISN-TV, an ABC affiliate in Milwaukee, reported on Monday that a criminal complaint alleges Demetric Scott admitted to investigators he wrote the letters threatening to kill the president in the name of Ramon Morales-Reyes, whom he was previously charged with assaulting.
Among those who fell for the hoax were Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who released a statement praising immigration officers for arresting Morales-Reyes on 22 May, one day after the forged letter was received by an Ice field intelligence officer.
'Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,' Noem said in a press release. Her department also released to news agencies an image of the handwritten note in light blue ink, expressing anger over Trump's deportations and threatening to shoot him in the head with a rifle at a rally. Noem also shared the letter on X along with a photo of Morales-Reyes, and the White House also shared it on its social media accounts.
'We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans – we have done more for this country than you white people – you have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald J. Trump get what he has coming to him,' the letter said. 'I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 to shoot your precious president in the head – I will see him at one of his big ralleys.'
But the claim soon began to unravel.
Last week, one of Morales-Reyes' children told an immigrant rights group that he could not have written the letters since he cannot read or write in Spanish, let alone English.
As part of the investigation, officials asked Morales-Reyes for a handwriting sample and concluded his handwriting and the threatening letter didn't match and that the threat was not credible, a source familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press.
Scott is currently in Milwaukee county jail, charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery. Prosecutors said Morales-Reyes is the victim in that case; he was allegedly assaulted in September 2023 with a box cutter during an attempted theft of his bike. As the case prepared to go to trial, Ice this month received the letter threatening to assassinate Trump.
According to a transcript of a phone call prosecutors say Scott made while awaiting trial for assaulting Morales-Reyes, Scott framed Morales-Reyes to keep him from testifying against him. 'If he gets picked up by Ice,' Scott allegedly said in the call, 'there won't be a jury trial, so they will probably dismiss it that day. That's my plan.'
Morales-Reyes works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee, where he lives with his wife and three children. He had recently applied for a U visa, which is carved out for people in the country illegally who become victims of serious crimes, according to his attorney.
Morales-Reyes remains in Ice detention at a facility in Juneau, Wisconsin.
José Olivares and Associated Press contributed reporting