Father of man who threatened Trump says his son was pressured

NEW ALBANY, IN (WAVE) - The Southern Indiana man accused of posting a threatening video against Donald Trump appeared in court for the first time Friday.

Richard DeVille, Jr., 26, was arrested Thursday in New Albany after an investigation by the United States Secret Service.

His father and girlfriend were in the courtroom on Friday as DeVille's charges were read against him. They insist he suffers from a mental disability and only posted the video after pressure from his friends.

Richard DeVille Sr. says his son is the one seen pointing two guns at the camera in a YouTube video post, but believes he did not do this on his own.

"I know what he did was wrong, yes, I can't lie to that. But somebody else was with him and if he is going to go, everybody should go," DeVille Sr. said.

PREVIOUS STORIES
+ Family says man who threatened Donald Trump has mental illness
+ Man believed Trump threat would 'make him look cool'

In the YouTube video, Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said DeVille is shown unloading and re-loading the handguns and threatens the life of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Since Trump is the victim in this case, he will be contacted.

"That's based on our constitution in Indiana where there is a right to notification, so we'll do that with the normal course of business," Henderson said. "But I personally haven't yet had that conversation with anybody from their campaign."

VIEW: Court Documents detailing Richard Deville Junior's arrest

Jackie Cox, DeVille's girlfriend and the mother of his 7-month old child, said DeVille regretted the post and took down the video after two days. She believes he was under the influence and didn't understand what he was being encouraged to do because of his mental handicap.

"He doesn't care about who is president or who's this, who's that, he doesn't care," Cox said.

Henderson said DeVille's state of mind will be considered in the future, but he said crimes like this that can't be ignored.

"It's important that we apply the law and that we don't look the other way and allow this kind of speech to be tolerated. (Speech) that is threatening to the point of physical harm to an individual," Henderson said.

DeVille was already on probation for burglary. Henderson asked the judge for probation to be revoked in light of the new charges. This will be discussed in court next month.

DeVille is being held on a $10,000 full cash bond. He is charged with intimidation and unlawful possession of firearm by a serious violent felon.

Copyright 2016 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.