By Raul Castillo
A 40-year-old man identified as Daniel Swain appeared before a federal judge in North Carolina on Monday after being accused of making threats against President Donald Trump.
Swain, originally from South Carolina, was arrested on April 29 at a car wash in Apex, after a 911 call alerted him to suspicious messages written on a vehicle. According to an affidavit cited by ABC11, one of the texts said: “I am heading to WSH to kill the president.”
During the hearing, the defendant received a public defender and He was taken into custody of the United States Marshals Service until his next appearance, scheduled for May 7.
Findings at the scene and initial charges
Police intervention It began when local agents went to the establishment and detected the registrations on the car. They subsequently notified the Secret Service and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
The authorities even deployed a bomb squad to inspect the vehicle, while a police dog marked a possible object of interest.
During registration, The agents found a drone and two containers with a substance suspected of being methamphetamine.. In addition, the vehicle’s license plate did not correspond to the car and had not been registered since 2020, according to information collected by ABC11.
Swain was initially charged with resisting arrest, drug possession and using fake license plates.
Federal investigation and background
Following his appearance on local charges, the Secret Service issued a federal warrant against him, expanding the investigation into threats against the president.
According to court documents obtained by ABC11, Swain refused to identify himself to agents and featured markings that matched the field topic used to write the messages on the vehicle.
Authorities also noted that the accused He had been interrogated on at least two previous occasions, in January 2025 and April 2026, for threatening posts on social networks, according to the same medium.
According to the federal order cited by ABC11, Swain stated that his actions were motivated by what he described as the wrongful deaths of close family members.
Recent movements and statements
The accused told investigators that had traveled to Washington DC on two recent occasions with the intention of “taking action,” although he later assured that he only planned to protest factually.
Surveillance images, collected by ABC11, show that Part of the messages were written before entering the laundry room, while others were added later.
In a previous hearing, Swain described himself as an unemployed Army veteran and called the situation “a little ridiculous.”
The case now remains under federal jurisdiction, as authorities continue to evaluate the scope of the defendant’s threats and actions.
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