A Center County resident was arrested Friday after being accused of threatening violence against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump the day before his rally at Penn State.
Paul J. Gavenonis, 74, of Spring Township, was charged with felonies related to terroristic threats and disorderly conduct.
While purchasing a parking pass at the university’s transportation office, the registered Democrat described climbing to the top of a tall building and saying, “You can’t bring a gun or the students will see it,” university police wrote in a affidavit of probable cause.
Gavenonis, who the Center County Public Defender Office said uses she/her pronouns, then made a “crushing gun motion” with her hands, a detective wrote in the charging document.
“I hate Donald Trump,” Gavenonis said through police. “I’d like to shoot that guy.”
The transportation office employee who processed the parking pass purchase expressed concern and concern about the statement and called the police. Gavenonis was interviewed by university police and Secret Service at the Pattee Library on Friday evening.
After being asked if she made a comment about wishing Trump would be shot or if she could do it, police wrote that Gavenonis said “probably yes.”
“Honestly, I hope someone catches him,” police quoted Gavenonis as saying after arresting her. She also told investigators she had a gun in her home.
It is unclear from the affidavit whether Gavenonis was trying to purchase a parking pass for Saturday’s meeting or for some other reason. A message was left with university police.
Gavenonis was arraigned Friday evening by District Judge Steven Lachman, who denied bail. She is incarcerated at the Center County Correctional Facility.
No attorney was listed. The Center County Public Defender Office had not been appointed to represent Gavenonis as of Monday afternoon.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
