Family of Indiana man accused of threatening Trump talk about charges
FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — The southern Indiana man accused of threatening Donald Trump in a YouTube video is due in court Friday morning.
Twenty-six-year-old Richard Deville Junior is in the Floyd County jail awaiting that court appearance.
Prosecutors are charging him with two felonies for making the threatening YouTube video. In the video, Deville Jr. points guns at the camera and tells Donald Trump he’s going to kill him, his daughter and his wife.
“I’m serious. You are dead,” said Deville Jr. in the video.
The Secret Service contacted Floyd County authorities after someone in Atlanta reported the posting.
Jackie Cox, the mother of Deville’s child, and his father, Richard Deville Senior said Deville draws disability for a mental handicap. They said he would never hurt Trump or anyone else, but he is easily influenced by peer pressure.
“He does this stuff to impress his friends. That’s why he does it. You know, he’s slow. He’s slow in the head and his friends take advantage of it,” said Cox.
Cox and Deville Sr. told reporters they don’t think Deville Jr. was sober when he made the video.
“It upset me and I cried. That’s not my son. I know how my son,” said Deville Sr.
Cox said she was on the phone with Deville Jr. before he made the video.
“I kept telling him don’t do it. Don’t do it and you can hear his friends in the background saying just do it. You’re the one that looks tough,” said Cox.
Court documents show Deville Jr. told police he made the video to look cool. Investigators said they believe Deville acted alone.