Left: Donald Trump, Jr. is seen at CPAC in National Harbor, Md., in March 2023 (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images). Right: Then President Donald Trump appears on stage with Charlie Kirk, head of Turning Point USA, before addressing the Turning Point USA Teen Student Action Summit in 2019 (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images).
A 24-year-old high school social studies teacher in Arizona admittedly threatened Donald Trump Jr. and Charlie Kirk online and was arrested on multiple misdemeanor charges, police allege.
The Tempe Police Department said Tuesday that the suspect was identified as Daniel Ashpes and that he was arrested last week for threatening Trump Jr. and Kirk as they were in Tempe for a Turning Point USA rally.
According to cops, Ashpes’ “threatening messages” were sent Thursday “in response to an automated mass-messaging system asking for an RSVP to the Turning Point rally at a Tempe hotel”; he was arrested at home the same day.
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In addition, cops claim that Ashpes “admitted to sending the messages.” As a result, he’s accused of using a phone to threaten or intimidate and is also charged with three counts of threatening to cause physical injury to another person.
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After news of the arrest emerged, AZFamily reported that Ashpes worked as a social studies teacher at at Desert Vista High School in the Phoenix area. The report said that Tempe Union High School District acknowledged Ashpes was an employee and that he was “placed on administrative leave” pending the law enforcement investigation.
“TUHSD does not tolerate or condone any form of threats or harassment made by employees or students,” the district reportedly said.
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