Massachusetts Teen Charged With Threatening To Kill Trump

Early Morning Raid on Grasshopper Lane

Flash-bangs shattered the quiet at 6 a.m. on Grasshopper Lane, waking neighbors who initially mistook the commotion for a heavy dumpster dropping to the asphalt. Richard Frank watched from nearby as law enforcement moved in, executing a court-authorized search warrant that ended with an 18-year-old Massachusetts man in handcuffs.

Federal prosecutors announced a charge of making a threat against the president on Thursday against Trenton Touch. The arrest followed an October 26 search of his Tewksbury home by local police, who uncovered a revolver-style handgun without the appropriate identification card.

Extremist Material and Instagram Threats

Investigators said Touch venerates mass shooters motivated by racism as heroes. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, digital evidence recovered in the case includes messages sent on Instagram featuring an image of a rifle accompanied by the phrases “it’s time” and “im gonna kill trump.”

Former classmates speak out about teen accused of threatening to kill Trump

When law enforcement searched the property, they seized the revolver and ammunition alongside military-style gear, knives, a hatchet, and white supremacist and Nazi material. Federal investigators later recovered a second firearm—a rifle that appears to match the one pictured in the threatening social media messages—at his grandparents’ home in New Hampshire.

Classmates Recall Inflammatory Remarks

Eric Dobson graduated alongside Touch from Tewksbury Memorial High School months prior to the arrest. He admitted that classmates often dismissed the teen’s inflammatory remarks as unfulfilled jokes.

Tewksbury man facing federal charges for allegedly threatening President Trump

“It never really occurred to me or, frankly, any of us, that the jokes were like — he actually meant them,” Dobson said, noting that he eventually started distancing himself from Touch.

Immersion in Alt-Right Online Content

John Erskine, another former classmate, observed Touch becoming increasingly immersed in alt-right and extremist online content.

18-year-old from Tewksbury accused of threatening to kill President Trump, shoot up school

“I’m not going to say I expected him to be in the organizations and doing that type of stuff online that he was doing,” Erskine said. “But if I had to choose someone from that high school that would be charged or caught doing this type of stuff, it would be him.”

Pending State and Federal Court Dates

Following his initial state arrest, Touch was ordered held on $50,000 bail following a hearing in Lowell District Court.

He remained in state custody ahead of an initial appearance scheduled in Boston’s federal court on Monday, while court records show he is due back in state court for a hearing on November 17.