Actor John Schneider, best known for his roles on The Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville and The Haves and the Have Nots has ended up on the radar of the secret service after threatening the 46th president of the United States and his son Hunter.
via: EW
In a now deleted reply, Schneider wrote, “Mr. President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hung. Your son, too. Your response is..? Sincerely, John Schneider.” Screenshots of Schneider’s post circulated online following his Masked Singer unveiling.
Fox declined to comment on the post. In a statement provided to EW by a representative Thursday, Schneider said, “Seriously, folks? This is my final comment on this. I neither said nor implied any such thing. Despite headlines claiming otherwise, in my post, I absolutely did not call for an act of violence or threaten a U.S. president as many other celebrities have done in the past. I suggest you re-read my actual post and pay attention to the words before believing this nonsense.”
He added, “It’s my position, which I am entitled to have, that some of our nations leaders in Washington have lost their way, and corruption runs rampant, both on our nation’s borders and abroad. Transparency and accountability must happen in order for our constitutional republic to survive. There is no threat implied or otherwise in that statement.”
A spokesperson for the Secret Service has told The Independent: “The Secret Service is aware of the comments made by Mr Schneider, and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence. We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees.”
Making a “credible” threat against the life of a sitting US president, vice president or member of their family is a federal crime punishable with a $250,000 fine and a five-year jail sentence.
Regardless how you feel about the politicians that run the country you live in, people need to learn to keep the most extreme of opinions to themselves.