A Miami man accused of threatening to kill President Barack Obama appeared in federal court on Friday and entered a not guilty plea. Joaquin Amador Serrapio Jr., 20, was arrested last month for making threats against Obama during the president’s trip to Miami in February. His attorney Alan Ross said his client had no intention of hurting the president and…
A Miami man accused of threatening to kill President Barack Obama appeared in federal court on Friday and entered a not guilty plea.
Joaquin Amador Serrapio Jr., 20, was arrested last month for making threats against Obama during the president's trip to Miami in February.
His attorney Alan Ross said his client had no intention of hurting the president and he wants to apologize to Obama, his community and his family.
"It was a foolish mistake. He sincerely believed that it was comedic," Ross said.
Serrapio, who is a student at Miami-Dade College West, did not say anything outside court Friday.
The criminal complaint said he used a fake Facebook account to post his threats and sent text messages to friends saying he was "challenging" the administration.
"Who wants to help me assassinate Obummer while hes at UM this week?" Serrapio wrote on the Facebook account under the alias "Jay Valor," according to the criminal complaint.
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Serrapio's attorney said the court had ordered a psychological evaluation, which was completed with no negative findings.
On Friday, the judge ordered Serrapio not to use Facebook.
"Be careful about what you say," said his attorney, Ross. "When you think that something’s funny it may be funny to you, but as to the rest of the world, especially the Secret Service, (be careful) about making this kind of reference on a Facebook page."
