Milwaukee DA investigates if illegal immigrant arrested for sending death threat to Trump was framed

Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern has confirmed that his office and the Milwaukee Police Department are investigating the possibility of Reyes being framed, with Lovern saying that the investigation is centered on witness intimidation and identity theft, per WISN.

This comes after CNN released a report stating that investigators believe Reyes "was a victim of a setup." Sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that law enforcement believes Reyes never wrote the letter.

"Instead, investigators suspect the letter was intended to benefit a separate individual who is currently awaiting trial in a robbery and assault case in which Reyes is a victim. They do not consider the threat to be credible," CNN reported.

The sources said that the person who may have been involved in sending the letters to an ICE office and other law enforcement agencies was an attempt to have Reyes deported before the case could go to trial.

Law enforcement had determined that Reyes did not write the letter after they interviewed him, a high-level law enforcement official briefed on the case told CNN, adding that federal officials had asked Reyes for a handwriting sample, which did not match the letter.

A source told the outlet that law enforcement had reviewed recent jail calls made by the person believed to have written the letters, and the person had asked about specific addresses, one of which received the letter.

The letter stated, "We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans — we have done more for this country than you white people — you have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald J Trump get what he has coming to him."

The letter continued, "I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 to shoot your precious president in his head — I will see him at one of his big ralleys [sic]."

A senior Department of Homeland Security official told WISN, "The investigation into the threat is ongoing. Over the course of the investigation, this individual was determined to be in the country illegally and that he had a criminal record. He will remain in custody."

Reyes was arrested on May 22 for the letter sent the day prior. He has reportedly entered the country illegally on multiple occasions and has a criminal record that includes arrests for felony hit-and-run, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct with a "domestic abuse modifier."