Miami man accused of threatening to kill Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in social media post
MIAMI - A Miami man was arrested on Monday and faces charges after allegedly making an online threat to kill Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, state authorities said.
Valentin Tomas Morales, 21, was charged with making written or electronic threats to kill or cause bodily injury, a second-degree felony under Florida law.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) conducted the investigation. FDLE is a state agency responsible for providing investigative, forensic, and criminal justice services to support local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
According to an FDLE affidavit, the agency was alerted on Monday about a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The post, from the account @LEM0NTEK, said: "I think im going to f-- kill Ron DeSantis." The post was deleted shortly after being published.
An investigation identified Morales as the probable owner of the account.
The arrest report said special agents contacted Morales' sister at his last known address in Miami, who confirmed he lived there and provided a phone number for him. She said Morales was at work at the time but did not know his place of employment.
FDLE said agents reached Morales by phone and arranged to meet him at his home. Upon his arrival, agents read him of his Miranda rights.
Morales invoked his right to have an attorney present during questioning and declined to make any statements, according to legal papers.
The FDLE concluded that the written threat expressed an intention to inflict harm and caused reasonable alarm.
Morales was arrested and charged accordingly. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
On Jan. 4, an 18-year-old honors student at Florida International University was charged with terrorism-related offenses for allegedly posting bomb threats on Instagram. He was accused of making written threats to commit a mass shooting or terrorism, a second-degree felony that also carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
