- Jason Alday was arrested earlier this week for making threats to President Joe Biden.
- Apalachee Center made the call to officials, because it was protocol.
- Watch the video above to hear from the center on how the made the decision to alert law enforcement.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Quincy: it's a small city in the big bend. It's now in the national spotlight.
I’m Ashley Engle your neighborhood reporter. Earlier this week, we told about the man with ties to this neighborhood who is accused of threats against President Joe Biden. Now, I'm working to find out who sounded the alarm and how these threats are handled.
Jason Alday is a Quincy native who was a patient at the Apalachee Center in Tallahassee. I spoke with Alday's family over the phone. While they declined to speak on camera, they said Alday suffers with his mental health.
"We want to make sure they're safe."
Jay Smith is Apalachee Center's Inpatient Director. He and court documents said Alday was going through intake with one of the nurses back in June. During that time, they said he started making threats about President Joe Biden.
This week's arrest follows a Georgia man getting indicted for threatening FBI Director Christopher Wray and the recent assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump.
SEE THE VIDEO OF TAKING COVER BELOW:
"What policies and procedures are in place to report these kinds of threats when people hear them?"
"We are heavily monitored and heavily regulated by state and federal guidelines. Primarily in this case, the duty to warn and we have a whole system in place for doing that."
Smith tells me they follow this protocol for both suicide and homicidal threats.
And it's their duty to warn and notify, in this case, law enforcement and the Secret Service about these threats.
"It's not our judge to say that the person is telling the truth or they're suicidal, if they can be delusional, under the influence of a substance, or have a mental illness."
The U.S. Attorney's Office reminds neighbors that all defendants are presume innocent.
It's the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
