By Staff Reporter |
24-year-old Daniel Ashpes of the Tempe Union High School District was arrested for threats against Donald Trump Jr. and Turning Point USA founder, CEO Charlie Kirk.
The Tempe Police Department announced Ashpes’s arrest on Tuesday; he was taken into custody on Thursday, Oct. 17. Ashpes messaged threats directed at Trump Jr. and Kirk through a mass messaging system while they were in town for a political rally last week.
“Daniel Ashpes was taken into custody by Tempe police on Thursday, after detectives were notified of threatening messages sent in response to an automated mass-messaging system asking for an RSVP to the Turning Point rally at a Tempe hotel,” said the department on Facebook. “TPD’s Threat Mitigation Unit launched an immediate investigation and developed probable cause for Ashpes’ arrest that same day. In an interview with detectives, Ashpes admitted to sending the messages.”
The content of his threats were not made public.
Ashpes is facing the following misdemeanor charges: three counts of threatening to cause physical injury to another person and one count of using a phone to threaten or intimidate. Penalties for these charges range up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
Ashpes is not an Arizona native. According to his since-deleted Facebook profile, Ashpes was from Irvine, California, where he attended Arnold O. Beckman High School in Tustin, California. His profile mentioned that he also lived for a time in Portland, Oregon.
All of Ashpes’s other social media profiles — including Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn — were deleted, limiting access to an online footprint that may have provided further insight to Ashpes’s political beliefs.
Ashpes attended Northern Arizona University and was a student teacher at Flagstaff Unified School District.
Ashpes taught social studies at Desert Vista High School; he was hired in July.
On Wednesday, Desert Vista informed parents that Ashpes was placed on administrative leave over his arrest.
“We are writing to inform you that Mr. Daniel Ashpes, a social studies teacher at DV, has been placed on administrative leave while authorities conduct an investigation,” stated the school. “Yesterday, at 1:33 PM, we notified Mr. Ashpes’ students and their families of the situation, prior to any media reports. As this is an ongoing matter, our priority was to first inform those directly impacted before communicating with the wider Desert Vista community. While we are unable to provide details at this time, we are aware that the Tempe Police Department has filed charges related to alleged online threats. Please note that the Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) does not tolerate or condone any form of threats or harassment by employees or students.”
Donald Trump Jr.’s father, Donald Trump, has survived two assassination attempts this year: one in July and one in September.
In the July assassination attempt, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot a near-fatal bullet that grazed Trump’s ear at a Pennsylvania rally. The gunfire killed one, 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter and father Corey Comperatore, and injured seven others: 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver were shot and critically injured but recovered; the nephew of Congressman Ronny Jackson was grazed in the neck by a bullet but recovered; and four Pittsburgh Police officers were injured minorly by debris from objects hit by the gunfire.
The second assassination attempt occurred in September. The would-be assassin, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, never made it to the point where he fired off any shots at Trump. Routh had set up an AK-47 rifle, backpack, and Go-Pro camera along the fencing adjacent to the Trump International Golf Club course. Routh was spotted by the Secret Service about 400-500 yards from Trump while he was playing golf. The Secret Service then fired several rounds at Routh and caused him to flee.
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