PEORIA, Ill. – An El Paso man federally charged with allegedly threatening President Trump must remain in jail until his trial.
25 News reports 27-year-old Derek Lopez was detained in a court hearing Monday afternoon.
Lopez is accused of making death threats against Trump on social media, specifically on X. His political posts reportedly started after Trump took office, although his family disagreed with his methods.
During an FBI interview, Lopez reportedly called Trump and others “Nazis” and initially denied the posts were threats. He is also alleged to have livestreamed an FBI phone interview, treating it as a joke.
Lopez’s defense attorneys argued that he is non-violent and had no plans to harm the President. They also argued that Lopez had no prior criminal history, apart from a disorderly conduct charge for flipping Turning Point USA tables on the Illinois State University campus, where he was a former graduate teacher’s assistant.
In court, Lopez’s mother testified that she noticed Derek’s posts after the election, and warned him about them being “risky,” but Derek rationalized them as free speech.
Prosecutors alleged Lopez was a danger to the community because of explicit posts threatening to kill the president, and his admission to those posts. Lopez also reportedly made mocking posts under a different name after his FBI interview, despite warnings from family members, the FBI, and police.
The judge ruled that Lopez ignored specific warnings, and there was strong evidence to detain him, despite a lack of a violent history.
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