Former Illinois teaching assistant charged with making threats against Trump

A former teaching assistant at Illinois State University has been charged in federal court with making threats against President Donald J. Trump, according to prosecutors.

The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Derek Lopez of El Paso, Illinois, was arrested on Tuesday following a joint investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois said.

He is scheduled to appear for preliminary and detention hearings on Nov. 3 at the federal courthouse in Peoria. If convicted, Lopez faces up to five years in prison. Authorities did not disclose the nature of the alleged threats against President Trump.

Lopez was previously fired from his teaching assistant position at Illinois State University after a video went viral showing him flipping over a table belonging to members of Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization founded by Charlie Kirk, according to Fox News.

The video showed Lopez confronting a man while the group was promoting an upcoming appearance by political comedian Alex Stein. He was later charged locally with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property in connection with that incident, Fox News reported.

“The threats against President Trump allegedly posted by this individual are heinous and have no place in American society,” FBI officials told Fox News Digital. “Let this be a message to all who consider threats of violence not just against public officials, but any American, that this FBI will find you and bring you to justice.”

The investigation was led by the FBI’s Springfield Field Office with assistance from the Secret Service, the El Paso Police Department, the Woodford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Illinois State University Police Department.