What’s happened so far with the Las Cruces man who allegedly threatened to kill Biden?
LAS CRUCES – Since his arrest in May, lawyers for and against a Las Cruces man accused of threatening to kill his family and indicating he wanted to kill President Joe Biden have been busy.
The defendant’s lawyers have raised questions about the federal government’s desire to include certain evidence. Meanwhile, the federal government has raised questions of their own, pondering whether the man’s outburst in court and overt threats against FBI agents suggest he’s not competent to stand trial.
The litany of motions and responses to motions are the latest developments in the ongoing case against John Thornton.
The FBI accused Thornton, 39, of sending three threatening messages to estranged family members living in Texas and Florida, a violation of federal law. The text messages also show Thornton stating that he wanted to execute U.S. President Joe Biden, according to court filings.
“Tell my concern their father is The revolutionary war general,” one SMS message provided in the affidavit reads. “5 stars now. 5 stars after I execute Joe Biden for Treason.”
While the federal affidavit presented text messages that indicated Thornton wanted to kill the president, federal prosecutors emphasized in previous hearings that they were not going to pursue charges related to those threats because they were not credible.
Instead, federal prosecutors are attempting to pin a charge of transmitting in interstate commerce communications containing any threat to injure the person of another. In addition to conspiracy-laced messages, FBI agents said in the affidavit that Thorton planned on killing his ex-wife.
“Just so you know, my ex-wife is a traitor and likely to be executed by my new government,” Thornton allegedly wrote in a text message.
After his arrest, a federal judge ruled that Thornton was dangerous and would be held in jail while he awaited trial.
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Fit to stand trial
Before his arrest and during recent hearings, Thornton has not been shy about saying what he thinks.
According to the testimony of an FBI agent who interviewed then arrested the defendant, Thornton described his alleged actions not as interstate threats but as interstate promises. The FBI agent also said that Thornton promised to execute them as well.
During a pretrial detention hearing, Thornton also interjected as Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong spoke. Thornton shouted “Objection, full context,” then “don’t pick and choose,” as his lawyer then the judge told him to stop interrupting.
Additionally, Thornton’s alleged motivation for sending threats also raised questions about his ability to stand trial. In the months before his arrest, Thornton created dozens of Facebook posts connecting a Canadian computer firm, D-Wave Systems Inc, to MK ULTRA, a cold-war era research project in which the U.S. government sought to create a mind-control drug.
In Facebook posts, Thornton accused D-Wave Systems Inc. of drugging people with methamphetamine at the request of the government.
“I’m killing them for Superconductive Quantum Tunneling into the Brainwaves of Methamphetamine users, globally. mk ultra, b it’s Methamphetamine Kinetics Superconducted,” one text message in the affidavit read.
From the outbursts to the content of the messages, federal prosecutors questioned Thornton’s ability to understand the proceedings. But Thornton felt differently.
“In this case, defense counsel has had personal contact with Mr. Thornton to discuss his charge and has no reason to believe that he does not understand the nature of the charge, and the consequences of the proceedings against him,” Thornton’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Bernadette Sedillo, said in her response motion.
Sedillo added that Thornton asks her questions about the proceedings and has suggested avenues of investigation for his defense.
“Mr. Thornton is extremely focused on due process and is aware of his right to due process. He understands the players in the courtroom, and their functions,” Sedillo said.
She also address the outburst during earlier hearings, saying Thornton did comply with instructions from his lawyer and the judge to pipe down after he was asked. Sedillo suggested that, because those hearings were not in-person, Thornton had a hard time keeping up with his attorney.
“He is certainly not the first defendant to try to interject statements at hearings,” she said.
Ultimately, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth said that Thornton’s statements and actions in courts did not suggest a lack of understanding of judicial proceedings. And so the case continues.
Wormuth also denied a continuance motion after federal prosecutors requested an additional 30 days to prepare for trial. In the motion, federal prosecutors said they needed the extra time to avoid a potential second trial over possible new charges stemming from a search of Thornton’s Facebook page.
Thornton and Sedillo opposed this motion. They said that there was no reason that a trial date of mid-October would not be appropriate.
However, Thornton then requested a continuance in mid-September, kicking the trial down the road.
Thornton’s Motions
After the initial charges of sending threats across state lines, federal prosecutors attempted to tack on one more — cyberstalking. The government said that new evidence came to light after they obtained a search warrant to look through Thornton’s Facebook page.
Thornton and Sedillo rebuked these charges and called on the judge to dismiss them. The defense also requested several pieces of evidence, including statements that Thornton gave to FBI agents, be excluded from the trial.
Sedillo said Thornton told the FBI agents he didn’t want to talk when they brought him in for questioning. But the agents persisted, Sedillo said, thus violating Thornton’s rights. Thornton also requested that past allegations of domestic violence not be presented to the jury if the case goes to trial.
Federal prosecutors also filed a motion requesting that Thornton and Sedillo refrain from discussing Thornton’s conspiracy theories about the meth and the government. They said in a motion that it would just confuse the jury.
None of the seven motions have been resolved even as the late November or early December trial deadline approaches.
What to expect when you’re expecting (a trial)
While behind the scenes action of a plea deal is unknown, both parties have put forth their lists of exhibits they want to present.
The federal prosecutors’ list includes much of what’s in the criminal complaint. From the text messages to the Facebook post, the government’s witness list suggests they’re building a case around what Thornton allegedly wrote.
Thornton and Sedillo, on the other hand, seem to be looking to prove what Thornton believes. His exhibit list includes photos, Freedom of Infomation requests, messages to the CIA and emails to the Canadian computer firm, some with the subject line “HAMAS KNOWS YOU GUYS MK-ULTRA.”
As the trial date approaches, the two parties are set to meet again on Dec. 1 to discuss the government’s exhibit list.
Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @Just516garc.
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