NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A former Kentucky police officer made threats against President Donald Trump on social media around the time the president visited Nashville in May, federal prosecutors said.
Andrew Long Ryan, 37, was indicted Wednesday on two counts of making threats against the president, the U.S. attorney's office in Nashville said in a statement. Ryan is in federal custody and he plans to plead not guilty in a future hearing, his public defender, Andrew Brandon, said Thursday.
In two social media posts on May 28 and May 29, Ryan posted "Death is coming" and "I will kill Donald Trump if you don't follow my leaders (sic) lead," prosecutors said. Trump visited Nashville on May 29.
Earlier this month, Ryan was taken into custody in Robertson County on allegations that he violated a protective order obtained by his family, who said they feared for their safety because of Ryan's declining mental state and threatening behavior. Prosecutors said Ryan drew the attention of the FBI and the Secret Service at the time.
Law enforcement seized firearms from Ryan's home in February and expressed concern that his threatening behavior would lead to mass violence, prosecutors said.
Ryan, of Greenbrier, Tennessee, served as a police officer in Bowling Green, Kentucky, from June 2005 to February 2006, said Bowling Green human resources department director Michael Grubbs.
But Ryan left the department during training and "he never went out on the street on his own," Grubbs said.
Ryan faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.