Chicago woman arrested for threatening to kill Trump and his son
Washington — The Secret Service arrested a Chicago woman Monday after prosecutors alleged she sent multiple menacing emails to a Florida school in which she threatened to kill former President Donald Trump and his teenage son, Barron, a law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News.
"I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Barron Trump straight in the face at any opportunity that I get," Tracy Fiorenza allegedly emailed the headmaster of a Palm Beach school on May 21, 2023, according to a criminal complaint filed earlier this month in Florida.
Days later, court documents allege Fiorenza, 41, again emailed the unnamed school official, "I am going to slam a bullet in Baron Trump's head with his father IN SELF DEFENSE!"
Secret Service agents in Chicago interviewed her on June 14, 2023, court records reveal, during which time she admitted that she had written the threatening messages from her Illinois home.
A senior law enforcement official said that Fiorenza has been "on the U.S. Secret Service's radar for several years." And recently, the "nature of her threats escalated to become more specific."
"Her family has expressed concern to law enforcement about her potential for violence," a senior law enforcement official said. "She has struggled chronically with her mental health and recently reported stopping taking her prescribed medication."
Fiorenza appeared in Chicago federal court Monday and will likely be transferred to Florida, where the charges against her were filed. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Secret Service referred requests for comment to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The arrest comes days after a Texas woman was taken into custody after leaving a threatening voicemail on the office phone of federal Judge Tayna Chutkan, who is overseeing special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump in Washington, D.C.
Sources told CBS News the U.S. Marshals Service had in recent weeks increased the judge's security.
A defense attorney for Fiorenza could not be immediately identified for comment.