FILE – President Donald Trump addresses the press on Friday, June 27, 2025, in the White House briefing room in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File).
A Florida man pleaded guilty to threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump in federal court this week, court records show.
Edward Raymond Mellor, 52, is charged with one count of making threats against the president and those in line for the presidency, as outlined in a three-page indictment submitted in Florida’s Middle District.
During a phone call, Edward Raymond Mellor, 52, allegedly told the FBI, “I want to assassinate the president,” as stated by federal prosecutors. He described the president as “a f–ing piece of s–” and expressed his intent to kill him.
This call, which lasted 17 seconds, was placed on April 1 to the public affairs office of the FBI located in Jacksonville, as detailed in a four-page penalty notice recently issued by federal prosecutors.
The notice was filed after a change of plea hearing held before U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Lothman Lambert in Jacksonville on Sept. 23.
During the legal proceedings, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Milliron stated that Mellor informed FBI agents that Trump was planning to “take his benefits away,” as per a report from The Florida Times-Union.
After issuing the threat, the defendant promptly disconnected the call, the notice mentioned. That afternoon, the U.S. Secret Service managed to obtain a subpoena, identifying Mellor as the phone’s subscriber.
The next day, a collection of FBI and Secret Service agents interviewed the defendant at his home, according to the notice.
“At the outset of the interview, the defendant confirmed his phone number as the one that called the FBI,” the notice reads. “But he denied making the call to the FBI. He claimed that he believed his old boss hacked into his cell phone and made the threat pretending to be the Defendant. He mentioned “the fucking President” and said the President planned to take his benefits away.”
During the interview, the agents also called the same FBI public affairs employee who answered the threatening phone call. Then, when comparing voices, the employee said Mellor was “100%” the same person who called the day before, according to the notice.
Prosecutors also took note of some tell-tale digital evidence.
“Law enforcement reviewed the contents of the defendant’s phone in his possession,” the notice goes on. “Initially, the call log did not show any calls to the FBI at the specific date and time of the threat on April 1. However, later forensic review revealed several calls were placed to the FBI on April 1, including at the time the FBI received the threatening phone call, but those calls had been deleted from the call log. Additionally, law enforcement observed multiple internet searches related to wanting to kill the President.”
An arrest warrant was then issued on April 22; Mellor was eventually arrested on May 27, court records show.
As of this writing, the defendant’s guilty plea has yet to be formally accepted by the district court – but the magistrate judge issued a terse report recommending the judge accept the plea.
“After cautioning the defendant and examining him under oath concerning each Rule 11 matter, I determined that the guilty plea was knowingly, freely, intelligently, and voluntarily made, and that there is a factual basis for each element of the charged offense,” Lambert wrote. “I recommend that the Court accept the defendant’s plea and adjudicate him guilty. The parties agreed to waive the objection period to this report and recommendation.”
