Inset: Michael Wiseman (Palm Beach County Jail). Background: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File).
Florida prosecutors appeared prepared to resolve a case against a man accused of posting threats to kill or inflict bodily harm on former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance, but an “erroneously” constructed pretrial intervention agreement has now been withdrawn.
Michael Martin Wiseman, 68, was arrested in July — mere days after a shooter attempted to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania rally — for the alleged threats that he made on Facebook, saying that Trump and Vance “should be murdered before turning us in to West Russia,” calling for their daughters to be “raped,” and adding that “[s]ome people need to be better shots if they know they are going to kill a monster.”
The Jupiter Police Department said that Wiseman even reacted to the failed assassination attempt by saying the dead shooter “should get a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, a stamp, and a national holiday” and that he asked: “Why is Trump allowed to be alive?”
“After investigating the reports and the suspect’s Facebook account, JPD detectives found that Wiseman had made multiple threats against Trump and Vance,” cops said. “Threats were also made concerning bodily harm to members of the Trump and Vance families. JPD coordinated the investigation with the United States Secret Service and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office. JPD officers took Wiseman into custody without incident.”
The Florida statute under which Wiseman is charged says that it is “unlawful for any person to send, post, or transmit, or procure the sending, posting, or transmission of, a writing or other record, including an electronic record, in any manner in which it may be viewed by another person, when in such writing or record the person makes a threat to: (a) Kill or to do bodily harm to another person,” a second-degree felony.
Despite this, Palm Beach County prosecutors in mid-September reached an agreement to resolve the case ahead of trial, a move that prosecutors have since acknowledged was a mistake.
Because Wiseman is charged with a second-degree felony, he’s not eligible for the pretrial intervention program. As the state explained, that program is available in third-degree felony or misdemeanor cases, so Wiseman was “erroneously” offered that path forward.
“The pretrial intervention program contract must be vacated because the defendant does not meet the criteria,” one filing said. “Only offenders charged with misdemeanors or felonies of the third degree are eligible for pretrial intervention. In this case, the Defendant was charged with a second-degree felony and is not eligible for admission in the pretrial intervention program.”
As a result, prosecutors asked the judge to vacate the deal.
On Sept. 25, Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe did just that, allowing Wiseman’s bond to stay at $5,000, not requiring him to be subject to GPS monitoring, ordering him not to access or post anything on social media, and ordering him to “continue” receiving “regular psychiatric care.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendant Wiseman will refrain from accessing or posting on all social media platforms,” the judge said.
Local ABC affiliate WPBF reported that the State Attorney’s Office said “it became apparent that an incorrect vehicle was used to resolve the case” so both sides “agreed to put the case back on the active docket to correct the error.”
Palm Beach County jail records show that Wiseman was booked on the evening of July 19 and released from custody on Sept. 17.
Read the court’s order here.
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