DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — A 21-year-old Daytona Beach woman was arrested after allegedly posting an online threat to shoot President Donald Trump during his scheduled visit to the city on Friday, in an investigation involving the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said on Friday, October 30.
Source: Ace News Today, citing the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, WESH and WFTV
According to the sheriff's account, authorities were alerted to an Instagram post made on Thursday night, October 29. A second report, citing Volusia County jail records and the sheriff, said the post by Allison Jeanne Albro stated that she was going to the Trump rally in her city the following day so she could “shoot him with my glock!” The wording is alleged and is attributed to the post as described by officials and jail reporting.
Source: Guessing Headlights, citing Volusia County jail records
Chitwood said the Sheriff's Office Domestic Security Unit and the U.S. Secret Service went to Albro's residence following the reported threat. During questioning, she reportedly told investigators she was joking, said she did not have access to a Glock or any other firearm, and insisted she would never hurt anyone, according to the sheriff's account reported by local outlets.
“We are not going to tolerate threats to assassinate the president. Allison Albro, 21, Daytona Beach, is learning that the hard way,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood posted on October 30, saying she had received a visit from the Domestic Security Unit and the Secret Service after posting the message the previous night.
Charges and the jail record
Albro was arrested and charged with written threats to kill and unlawful use of a communications device, according to the Sheriff's Office. The jail-record reporting identifies the charges more precisely as written threats to kill or do bodily injury under Florida Statute 836.10(2), and unlawful use of a two-way communications device to commit a felony under Statute 934.215. Both are state felony charges. The first charge carries no bond, while the second lists a $2,500 bond, and her arrest case number is VP260023090, according to the jail records cited in that report.
Source: Guessing Headlights, citing Volusia County jail records
The rally the post allegedly named
Trump is scheduled to address a Republican midterm rally at the Ocean Center, 101 N. Atlantic Ave. in Daytona Beach, on Friday, October 30, just days before the November 3 midterm elections. Doors were expected to open at 3:30 p.m., with remarks scheduled for 7 p.m., and the venue holds about 9,000 people, according to rally previews published earlier in the week. Several Volusia and Flagler County groups, including the Port Orange Democratic Club, Just Us Volusia, Volusia Democratic Socialists of America and Flagler 5051, had planned protests outside the venue.
Source: Miramar News / News-Observer rally preview, Oct. 28
Why a claimed joke still brings federal agents
Threats against a sitting president are investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the agency charged with presidential protection, and Florida law separately makes it a felony to send written threats to kill or injure. Investigators do not close a case simply because a suspect later says a post was a joke: the sheriff's position, stated publicly on Friday, is that a threat to assassinate the president will be treated as a serious security concern every time. The charges against Albro are allegations only, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
For local residents — and for the Punjabi and other South Asian families, delivery drivers and truckers who live and work along the Atlantic Avenue and A1A corridor — the practical impact lands on Friday itself: rally previews had already warned of road closures around the Ocean Center and possible delays through the afternoon and evening, on top of heightened security screening at the venue. Anyone driving the corridor for work on Friday evening should expect slowdowns near downtown Daytona Beach.
What happens next
Albro's case now moves into the Volusia County court process, beginning with a first appearance at which a judge reviews the charges and bond conditions; with no bond listed on the written-threats charge in the jail record, that hearing is the next decision point in her case. The Secret Service's involvement means a federal review of the threat runs alongside the state charges. No change to the president's 7 p.m. rally schedule had been announced in Friday's reports, and the rally was expected to go ahead under the heightened security already planned for it.