An Immigrant Was Accused of Threatening Trump. Prosecutors Say He Was Framed.

The initial claim was both grave and unsettling: an undocumented immigrant had allegedly written a letter threatening to assassinate former President Donald Trump and declared he would then “self deport” back to Mexico. This accusation, publicized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week, ignited alarm and swiftly led to the man’s arrest.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proudly announced the detention, crediting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for apprehending what she called an “illegal alien” who had issued a direct threat to the former president. The DHS news release included images of the accused man, Ramon Morales Reyes, and a photo of the handwritten letter in blue ink that contained the supposed threat.

However, the narrative began to unravel almost immediately. Morales Reyes’s legal team quickly held a press conference to assert his innocence, and local investigators in Wisconsin, where he resided, soon developed doubts about his involvement. Their inquiry suggested that Morales Reyes may not have been the author of the threat but instead the target of a deliberate attempt to frame him.

By this week, that suspicion was confirmed. Prosecutors in Milwaukee County formally charged another individual—Demetric D. Scott, a lifelong resident of Wisconsin—with identity theft and witness intimidation. According to the criminal complaint, Scott authored several threatening letters and falsely used Morales Reyes’s address in the return label. Investigators say Scott’s aim was to have Morales Reyes detained and deported before he could testify against Scott in an upcoming robbery trial.

Ironically, Scott’s plan was initially successful. Morales Reyes, a restaurant dishwasher with a low public profile, was arrested and remains in custody. Despite Scott now facing charges for fabricating the threats, Morales Reyes is still being held pending an immigration court hearing, and the possibility of deportation remains very real. Federal authorities have pointed to his previous unlawful entries into the U.S. and a reported criminal history.

The Trump administration’s stringent policies on immigration and deportation have contributed to an atmosphere where fear and suspicion often override due process, according to immigrant rights advocates. Critics argue that this environment enables the exploitation of vulnerable individuals, particularly undocumented immigrants.

“This type of extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric creates a climate where people feel emboldened to commit acts of hate or manipulation,” said Kime Abduli, an attorney representing Morales Reyes. “It gives cover for injustice.”

When questioned about the ongoing validity of the original accusations, Homeland Security officials offered little clarification. In a non-signed statement released Monday night, the department said the case was still under investigation. The statement noted that Morales Reyes was “found to be in the country unlawfully” and had a “criminal history,” though no specific details were made available, and independent verification of those claims proved difficult.

The Secret Service, which handles investigations into threats against the president, declined to comment on which version of the events it believed.

As for Scott, his alleged attempt to manipulate the justice system appears to have backfired. Already awaiting trial for a 2023 robbery in which he was accused of attacking Morales Reyes with a box cutter to steal a bicycle, Scott now faces more serious charges related to the threatening letters. He has pleaded not guilty to the original robbery charge. His legal representatives have not commented publicly on the new developments.

Despite telling investigators he had no real intention to harm the president, Scott’s actions come at a time of heightened political tension and increased concern over threats to public officials. The content of the letters, prosecutors say, included chilling statements such as, “we are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans,” and detailed imagined plans to assassinate Trump at a future rally.

In a statement following the arrest of Morales Reyes, Secretary Noem warned that “politicians and members of the media should take these repeated threats against President Trump seriously and consider dialing back their rhetoric.”

At least three letters containing threats—addressed to various local, state, and federal entities in Wisconsin—surfaced last month. Each was penned in the same handwriting and bore Morales Reyes’s address as the sender, according to investigators. Shortly after one letter reached ICE’s Milwaukee office, Morales Reyes was taken into custody.

What Morales Reyes’s legal team has emphasized is that he was cooperating with law enforcement in the robbery case and had begun applying for a U visa—a type of protection granted to victims of certain crimes who assist police. Abduli said this application was based on his cooperation in the prosecution of Scott.

Morales Reyes is described by his lawyer as a humble and devoted family man who has quietly lived in Milwaukee for years. He has three children who are American citizens, and he originally left rural Mexico in search of better opportunities for his family.

Federal records indicate that Morales Reyes, now 54, entered the United States illegally at least nine times in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Authorities claim he was arrested multiple times, including for incidents like hit-and-runs, criminal property damage, and disorderly conduct. Yet the DHS has not provided specific dates, locations, or outcomes of these arrests. Abduli stated that she lacked sufficient information to verify whether any of the government’s claims were true or even relevant to the current matter.

Once Morales Reyes was arrested in May, inconsistencies in the evidence began surfacing. He does not speak or write English, and his handwritten Spanish notes did not resemble the English letters that triggered the federal investigation. When asked through an interpreter if he had any idea who might want to frame him, he mentioned Demetric Scott.

Police then began examining phone calls Scott had made from jail. On these recorded lines, Scott discussed strategies to delay or derail his July trial. In one call, he asked someone to send letters on his behalf and indicated that Morales Reyes’s arrest could eliminate the need for him to face a jury.

“If ICE gets him, there won’t be a trial,” Scott was heard saying on May 16, according to the criminal complaint. “That’s my plan.”

Court records show that Scott eventually admitted to penning the letters and deliberately using Morales Reyes’s identity to draw attention from federal authorities. One detective noted that Scott told them he included a threat to President Trump specifically to trigger a Secret Service response, ensuring authorities would go directly to Morales Reyes’s residence.

During a brief court appearance on Tuesday, Scott remained silent, dressed in an orange jail uniform with his wrists cuffed. Court Commissioner Barry Phillips set his bail at $30,000 and commented on the audacity of the scheme.

“This was ingenuity,” Phillips remarked. “You tried to get someone arrested and possibly deported to stop them from testifying against you. But what you didn’t count on is that every move you made was caught on recorded phone lines.”

Abduli said her client had endured tremendous stress and fear over the past several weeks. She expressed frustration that DHS had made Morales Reyes’s identity public and attached him to a false and dangerous allegation.

“Ramon was first victimized by a man trying to silence him,” she said, “and then victimized again by a government agency that amplified a false narrative without due diligence.”

She urged federal officials to either update their public statements or remove the original announcement altogether.

As of Tuesday evening, however, the original DHS press release naming Morales Reyes and accusing him of threatening President Trump remained online.