Former podcaster charged for death threats against Trump

Former podcaster Benjamin Azariah Southworth was charged Thursday in connection with death threats against President Trump.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Southworth was arrested in a statement on the social platform X , writing, “Early this morning, the @FBI and partners arrested Benjamin Azariah Southworth in LA – after a federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly threatening to assassinate President Trump and his attorney, Jay Sekulow.”

“Deadly threats like this are as vile as they are criminal – those responsible will be met by this FBI and law enforcement,” Patel added.

The grand jury indictment found Southworth used his social media — including his Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok — to “publicly engage in and/or encourage the abuse, harassment and intimidation of, and violence against, President Trump.”

The second victim was not identified in the indictment but was described as “President Trump’s personal lawyer and that lawyer’s family.”

Southworth is the former host of the podcast “Yass, Jesus!” and a Christian reality show called “The Remix.”

Prosecutors cited as evidence a video Southworth posted in April where he reportedly made death threats against the president and portrayed “fictitious portrayals of acts of violence” against Trump.

Southworth allegedly posted in April on his social platforms, “IF AT FIRST YOU FAIL, TRY AGAIN!” following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Three months before these posts, prosecutors said Southworth also posted Jay Sekulow’s home address along with his picture on his personal TikTok account with a statement that read, “No peace for traitors.”

He is charged with cyberstalking and harassing Sekulow and threatening to kill Trump.

“As threats against President Trump’s life escalate, the Department of Justice will respond with the full force of the law,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press release . “We will hold perpetrators of violent threats accountable, and anyone who makes these threats online will not be allowed to hide behind their screens.”

The case is still under investigation. If convicted, Southworth would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for threatening the president, a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for cyberstalking and a statutory maximum sentence of two years in federal prison for telephonic harassment.