Prosecutors drop charges against man accused of threatening to kill Trump: ‘More of a rant by an idiot’

Prosecutors dropped charges against a man who was accused of threatening to kill President Trump in an online skit, saying that the video appeared to be “more of a rant by an idiot” than a threat to the president.

The man, 26-year-old Chauncey Lump, dressed as an Arab person for a skit he posted to Facebook Live one day after Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. strike, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

Lump criticized Trump for ordering the strike, according to charging documents, the newspaper reported. Music that sounded Middle Eastern was playing in the background of the video, and Lump wrapped himself in a towel to look like a turban.

“He killed my leader and I have to kill him. I’m ready for Donald,” records say Lump, a security guard from Oakland Park, Florida, said in the seven-minute video that he posted on Jan. 3. 

“I need to find the Donald because if I don’t find him, I’m going to have to blow up Broward County so please tell me where he is,” he allegedly continued.

Lump was arrested hours after posting the video, the Sun Sentinel reported. A federal criminal complaint was filed days later that accused Lump of breaking the law by threatening the president. The state of Florida also alleged that Lump made a false bomb threat.

The man told authorities that he uploaded the video from his cell phone, and it was intended as a joke. He said he had no intention of going through with the implied threats, but he told officials “I should not have done it in the first place,” the outlet reported. 

Late last month, attorneys for both the state of Florida and the federal government decided to drop their cases. 

Florida Assistant State Attorney Ted Daus said in the state’s memo explaining why they were no longer pursuing their charges that Assistant Attorney for the U.S. government Scott Strauss emailed the state to inform them they were no longer moving forward with their charges on Jan. 24.

The case was determined by the U.S. Attorney’s office to be “more of a rant by an idiot,” than an act of someone with the “intent to actually carry out” his words, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Lump, who spent a total of 32 days in jail, said authorities mischaracterized the video and his actions.

“But as far as threatening to blow up Broward or the president, I would do no such thing,” Lump said, according to the newspaper. “It was a comedy routine. But the things they are saying I said, I never said.” 

Lance Garrett, Lump’s attorney, said that “It was so clearly tongue-in-cheek, and while it might have been juvenile and foolish, there clearly was no crime committed, and Mr. Lump did not deserve to spend over a month in jail for it.”