Lafayette woman accused of threatening to kill Trump released from federal custody

Public defender called her threats hyperbole. Plus, Lafayette opens opioid settlement grant applications. How to watch solar project hearing. Indiana GOP inches toward redistricting. And more.

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COURT DOCS: LAFAYETTE WOMAN ACCUSED OF THREATENING TO KILL TRUMP RELEASED FROM FEDERAL CUSTODY

A little over a week after she was arrested in Washington, D.C., accused of making threats on social media that she was ready to kill President Donald Trump, a 50-year-old Lafayette woman now living in New York was released from federal custody as she awaits her next hearing Sept. 2 in U.S. District Court, according to federal court records.

Despite the U.S. attorney’s effort to keep Nathalie Jones in custody ahead of a trial, a public defender argued that what she’d posted on social media – including that she was “willing to sacrificially kill this POTUS by disemboweling him and cutting out his trachea” – amounted to hyperbole and not true threats to the president.

“The government argues that she has been making threats for years, but the government has not previously charged her with making any threats— despite awareness of the statements and her location — suggesting that law enforcement did not consider any previous statements to be ‘true threats,’” her federal public defender wrote in a motion this week.

Jones was released Wednesday morning and ordered by a judge to stay away from Washington, D.C., except for court hearings, according to court documents. Before that, a federal magistrate last week had ordered Jones be held without bond and evaluated for competency to stand trial, according to court records.