Trenton Touch, 18, of Tewksbury, Mass., was arrested and charged with threatening to kill U.S. President Donald Trump after allegedly sending an Instagram message in June featuring a photograph of a firearm and the words, “I’m gonna kill Trump,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Massachusetts.
FBI investigators said Touch called mass shooters “heroes” and shared a photo of a gun with “Robert Bowers,” who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh in October 2018, written on it, as well as the name “Brenton Tarrant,” who killed 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019.
A search of Touch’s home recovered a revolver-style firearm, military-style surplus equipment, knives and a hatchet, according to the affidavit.
In an Instagram chat with more than 400 participants, Touch allegedly wrote, “Halloween is when I can put on my peadot camo and not be stared at” and “Actually I might just larp as an Attomwaffen member.”
“The Attomwaffen Division is an international neo-Nazi terrorist network,” an FBI agent stated in the affidavit. The agent explained that “peadot” refers to “pea-dot,” a camouflage pattern used by German soldiers during World War II.
In another message, Touch allegedly wrote, “I can larp while shooting a place up,” using the term “larp” as shorthand for live-action role-playing.
Agents also seized what the affidavit described as “various items espousing white supremacist and Nazi ideology,” including stickers bearing swastikas and the message: “The future belongs to the few of us still willing to get our hands dirty. Political terror, it’s the only thing they understand.”
Touch allegedly expressed anger at the Tewksbury Police Department for not approving his application for a firearms identification card and discussed having his grandparents purchase a gun for him. Federal agents subsequently searched his grandparents’ home in Atkinson, N.H.
In the basement, where Touch reportedly stays during visits, agents found a rifle that appeared to match the firearm pictured in the Instagram message threatening the president, according to the affidavit. His grandparents told investigators that the rifle was kept locked and that Touch could use it only under their supervision.
A charge of making a threat against the president is a federal offense carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Touch also faces state firearms charges.
