Topline
At least three men were arrested this week for allegedly threatening to kill President Donald Trump or family members this week, according to the Justice Department, which has led a strengthened crackdown on threats against public officials.
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the White House on July 16.
Photo by Saul Loeb/Pool – Getty Images
Key Facts
FBI agents arrested Knoxville man Garry Lee Williams, 44, Thursday over allegations he posted repeated TikTok videos threatening to kill Trump, FBI Director Kash Patel, Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler and Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noe, according to the Justice Department.
William Upham, 35, a former Marine and Republican congressional write-in candidate from Jacksonville, Florida, was charged with threatening the President of the United States on Thursday for alleged comments against Trump in which he called him “the enemy” and said he “must be killed” in videos posted to Facebook, the DOJ announced.
Upham, who was dressed in his military uniform in the videos, said in one “the enemy” should be killed with “two shots to the chest” and “one shot to the head,” according to the DOJ complaint.
On Monday, James Gerald Eckert Jr., 39, of Rochester, New York, was arrested and charged with threatening to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a member of the immediate family of the President after posting threats against Donald Trump Jr., including, “I’m going to kill you,” in the live chat of Trump Jr.’s podcast on Rumble.
What To Watch For
Upham’s and Eckert’s charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Trial dates have not been set for the cases, though Williams had his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Friday.
Tangent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters this week he was the target of an assassination attempt earlier this year. The man involved in the plot pleaded guilty to his charges in March and will be sentenced in August.
Key Background
Federal prosecutors have increasingly used statutes prohibiting the sending of threats against the president to pursue posts made on social media. In Upham’s case, the Marine Corps publicly condemned his videos as “disturbing,” saying his statements violated “the oath he swore to uphold.” ‘
Political Threats On The Rise
Trump was targeted in two assassination attempts in 2024, with one of the incidents striking the president in the ear by a bullet, and killing a bystander. The gunman from that assassination attempt was killed by the Secret Service, while the man who tried to assassinate Trump on a Florida golf course was sentenced to life in prison in February. The attempts on Trump’s life are part of a rise in political violence in recent years. Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was attacked by a man with a hammer in his home in 2022, suffering a fractured skull and injuries to his right arm. Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot in their home in 2025, just months before right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a public event in Utah.