An 18-year-old Massachusetts man sits in federal custody after prosecutors say he threatened to kill President Donald Trump and carry out a school shooting — a case that raises the question of whether the Justice System moves with the same urgency when America-first leaders are targeted as it does for anyone else.
Trenton Touch of Tewksbury appeared Monday in federal court in Boston for a detention hearing. According to investigators, Touch operated four social media accounts he used to make the threats. A search of his home turned up a revolver, knives, ammunition, and military gear. Investigators also found a rifle at his grandfather's New Hampshire residence.
Touch's defense attorneys pushed back hard on the government's framing. They told the court their client is a college student with no criminal record, that the revolver was a replica, and that the rifle in New Hampshire wasn't his. They argued the online profiles don't reflect who Touch really is.
An online friend, Roman Payan, told NBC10 Boston he's known Touch for six years through a shooting game and had previously warned him about his violent language. "I know for a fact he didn't mean any of this stuff," Payan said. "He said, like, yeah, it's just a joke to him, but, like, he'll take it way too far."
Even defending his friend, Payan conceded the system is coming down hard: "They're going to make an example out of him. I feel like, because there's all this, there's all this evidence behind him of just the stupid, stupid stuff he's been saying for years and he's never been held like, accountable for it."
Criminal defense attorney Michael Tumposky, who is not involved in the case, told NBC10 Boston that threats to kill someone are not protected speech under the First Amendment — but he also characterized the current charges as "relatively minor." Tumposky suggested law enforcement may be building toward something bigger: "I imagine that law-enforcement is interested in trying to find a way to increase a potential exposure that the defendant faces."
If convicted on the current charge, Touch faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a possible fine.
The question ordinary Americans ought to be asking: when was the last time federal prosecutors moved this quickly — with custody hearings and weapon searches — over threats against a sitting president who isn't named Trump? The record suggests the system treats threats against establishment-favored politicians as serious, while threats against America-first leaders have historically been soft-pedaled or waved off as hyperbole. In this case, at least, prosecutors aren't looking the other way.
Touch remains in custody. His defense attorney says he's preparing arguments for Touch's release ahead of another hearing scheduled for next Monday.
