66-year-old Ronald “Rudy” Lee Syvrud was arrested Thursday afternoon after threatening to kill presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump.
Cochise County Sheriff’s Office apprehended Syvrud. The Benson resident is a convicted pedophile who has multiple active warrants for his arrest: in Wisconsin, for his DUI and failure to appear for that DUI, and in Graham County for both a hit and run as well as a felony failure to register as a sex offender.
Syvrud was added to Wisconsin’s sex offender registry in 2001 for a lifelong registration following his conviction for second-degree sexual assault of a child. Individuals who have sexual contact or intercourse with children under the age of 16 are given that charge.
https://x.com/wisconsin_now/status/1826730071610265603
In a since-deleted Facebook post on Wednesday, Syvrud threatened to shoot Trump during his visit to Cochise County on Thursday.
Syvrud mentioned that he would be bringing along his girlfriend, Dawn, for the assassination plot.
“Trump is going through here tomorrow and going to Naco, AZ to the port of entry to Mexico. There’s a bar right there called the Gay 90s. Noooo. It’s not a gay bar. Dawn and I will be there early. I bought a scope for my 44 revolver. Unlike that dweeb that missed. I won’t. Maybe I’m joking,” wrote Syvrud. “Or am I. Wink, wink.”
Syvrud went by “Rudy Lee” on X and “Sven Lee” on Facebook, as discovered by reporter Andy Ngo. Syvrud’s Facebook page was deleted by Thursday evening.
https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1826741774460543061
Hours before his arrest, Syvrud updated his profile picture to a Harley Davidson coffee mug and cover photo to a motorcycle in an apparent effort to obscure his identity.
In a reply to a friend alluding to another deleted comment — which may have contained the threat that led to his arrest — Syvrud said that he wouldn’t kill Trump.
“You know I’m only joking. I don’t even have a gun,” said Syvrud. “I like so many other people in this country and the world are full of disgust with this slime ball. But I would NEVER take things into my own hands. I have enough crap on my plate as it is.”
Shortly after Trump survived the Pennsylvania assassination attempt last month, Syvrud posted about his disappointment that the assassination on Trump had failed.
“I give the shooter an A- for effort. Would have gotten an A+ if he succeeded,” wrote Syvrud. “By the way, the kid was a registered Republican. Got to love it.”
Syvrud posted repeatedly about his dislike of Trump and the Republican party, with some posts bordering on violent, such as a picture of Jesus drowning Trump.
Despite the threat of another assassination and the manhunt for Syvrud actively underway, Trump carried out his Cochise County visit on Thursday as planned with a visit to the southern border.
Trump revealed during his press conference at the border that he wasn’t made aware of the assassination threat. Despite the sudden notice that there was another potential threat on his life underway, Trump appeared unbothered and cracked a joke about it.
“I haven’t heard about that, they probably want to keep it from me. Let’s get out of here right now,” said Trump.
Trump will remain in Arizona another day; he is scheduled to host a rally in Glendale on Friday afternoon alongside a to-be-announced special guest.
