A Wisconsin man, Demetric Deshawn Scott, 52, has been charged with identity theft, bail jumping, and felony intimidation of a witness for allegedly faking assassination threats against President Donald Trump in an attempt to have a key witness in his criminal trial deported. According to a criminal complaint filed on June 2 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Scott is accused of writing multiple threatening letters, pretending to be someone else, in a plot to have Ramón Morales Reyes, a witness set to testify against him, deported.
The Fake Threats and the Plan to Deport the Witness
The letters, which were allegedly sent to U.S. officials, contained violent threats targeting President Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. In one letter, Scott allegedly wrote: “I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 to shoot your precious president in his head.” Another letter reportedly threatened to blow up the White House, claiming, “Someone need to blow this entire country up like 911 in New York.”
Prosecutors believe Scott’s intention behind sending these threats was to get the Trump administration’s attention and have Morales Reyes, a 54-year-old man in the U.S. illegally, deported before he could testify against Scott in a robbery and aggravated battery case. According to a call made from Scott’s jail cell, Scott expressed that if Morales Reyes was deported by the time of his trial, the judge would likely dismiss the charges against him.
The Investigations and Realization of the Deception
After Morales Reyes was arrested by ICE on May 22, the authorities realized something was off. Investigators found that Reyes, who does not speak or read English fluently, could not have written the letters as they contained English phrases and handwriting that did not match his own.
Upon further investigation, Scott allegedly confessed to writing the letters in an interview with a police detective on May 30. Investigators also found a blue pen used to write the letters in Scott’s jail cell, as well as contact details for the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Office and the Milwaukee ICE office, both of which received the forged threats.
Morales Reyes’ Legal Situation
Despite Scott’s alleged confession, Morales Reyes remains in ICE custody. He is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge on June 4, but his attorney, Cain Oulahan, is working to find legal avenues to release him. Oulahan confirmed that Morales Reyes has a pending U visa, though those visas often face long backlogs. He is seeking other ways to keep Reyes with his family, which includes three U.S. citizen children.
Public Reaction and Legal Concerns
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed the investigation is ongoing and that Morales Reyes will remain in custody, citing his criminal record and status as an undocumented immigrant.
A statement from the City of Milwaukee Common Council, released on May 30, condemned the detention of Morales Reyes, asserting that DHS had acted hastily, leading to a man and his family receiving death threats. The council stated that this situation only exacerbates anti-immigrant sentiments, rather than focusing on public safety as DHS should.
