North Texas man who threatened in YouTube comment to assassinate president sentenced
A Richardson man who threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court to 18 months in prison.
Mickael Gedlu, 36, in December 2018 wrote on YouTube: “I am waiting for Trump to visit Dallas before I attempt to assassinate him,” according to a description of stipulated facts filed in the case. Gedlu wrote the threat in the comments section connected to “The Greg Gutfeld Show,” a Fox News Channel broadcast.
Seven months earlier, Gedlu stood across the street from the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas 30 minutes before Trump arrived for a fundraiser. Dallas police officers saw Gedlu holding a “Kill Trump” sign and detained Gedlu as he screamed, “kill the President,” according to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Gedlu was indicted in July and pleaded guilty in December to making a threat against the president. Appearing from the Federal Correction Institution in Seagoville, he was sentenced via video teleconference by Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. The prison term is to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The maximum prison sentence for the crime is five years.
Gedlu’s father has said his son is a “sick person.” Gizaw Gedlu, in an interview with a reporter, said Mickael Gedlu is disabled and mentally confused and has visited many doctors because of mental problems.
Lynn earlier ordered a psychological examination and granted a defense motion seeking to determine Gedlu’s competency. Whether such an exam was conducted and, if it was, its conclusion, was not clear from court records.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 10:11 PM.
