Federal agents arrested a former Christian reality TV host and podcaster in Los Angeles after a grand jury indicted him on charges of threatening to kill President Trump, cyberstalking Trump's personal attorney, and telephonic harassment, charges that carry up to 12 years in federal prison.
Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40, was taken into custody early on September 4 at his Westlake home in Los Angeles by FBI agents acting on a federal grand jury indictment out of the Central District of California. The three-count indictment charges Southworth with threatening to kill the president, cyberstalking attorney Jay Sekulow and his family, and making harassing interstate phone calls. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest on X, calling the threats "as vile as they are criminal."
Southworth, the former host of a podcast called "Yass, Jesus!" and a Christian reality show called "The Remix", allegedly used Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok over a period of months to call publicly for Trump's assassination, post depictions of violence against the president, and target Sekulow's family with harassment and intimidation.
The case lands amid what federal officials describe as an escalating pattern of threats against the president's life, and it follows a string of federal arrests tied to similar conduct. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department "will respond with the full force of the law."
The indictment lays out a months-long trail of social media posts. Approximately three months before April 2026, Southworth allegedly posted Jay Sekulow's home address and photograph on his personal TikTok account alongside the words: "No peace for traitors." That post effectively doxxed the president's personal lawyer, publishing his private residential information for anyone to find.
In April, Southworth allegedly escalated. He posted a video containing what prosecutors describe as death threats against the president and "fictitious portrayals of acts of violence" against Trump. The New York Post reported that one video depicted Southworth raising a knife to Trump's head in the Oval Office.
The indictment also alleges Southworth used his social media accounts to "publicly engage in and/or encourage the abuse, harassment and intimidation of, and violence against, President Trump."
That was not all. Following a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, an incident referenced in the indictment but not described in detail, Southworth allegedly posted a message on his social platforms: "IF AT FIRST YOU FAIL, TRY AGAIN!" The timing and context of that post, coming after an act of violence directed at an event tied to the president, form part of the government's case.
The federal case tied to that correspondents' dinner shooting remains active in the courts.
The specific language Southworth used in his posts went well beyond vague hostility. In one video cited in court documents, he allegedly stated on camera:
"Kill Donald Trump. Kill that motherf***** pedophile in the White House. Kill that traitor of the United States Constitution."
Fox News reported that Southworth also sold "Kill Trump" stickers on his personal website and left threatening voicemails for Sekulow's family. When agents arrived to arrest him, Southworth reportedly yelled: "Donald Trump is a pedophile. The country has fallen!"
Southworth faces a statutory maximum of five years in federal prison for threatening to kill the president, five more for cyberstalking, and two years for telephonic harassment, 12 years total if convicted on all three counts. The case remains under investigation.
Both Patel and Blanche used the arrest to send a broader message. Patel wrote on X:
"Deadly threats like this are as vile as they are criminal, those responsible will be met by this FBI and law enforcement."
Blanche, in a DOJ press release, framed the case in the context of rising threats against the president:
"As threats against President Trump's life escalate, the Department of Justice will respond with the full force of the law. We will hold perpetrators of violent threats accountable, and anyone who makes these threats online will not be allowed to hide behind their screens."
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who oversees the Central District of California, was equally direct. "There is zero tolerance for political violence, especially for threats directed at the President," Essayli said. "Threatening an elected official with violence is a serious offense, and you will be arrested and charged as Mr. Southworth found out this morning."
The Secret Service has reported a 40 percent spike in threat cases, with its director calling the current environment unprecedented. Southworth's arrest is not an isolated event, it fits a pattern of federal law enforcement moving aggressively against individuals who post assassination threats on social media.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle reinforced that message. "Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible," Ingle said.
The Southworth case is the latest in a series of federal arrests targeting people who posted threats against the president online. The FBI has previously arrested a man who posted a TikTok video calling for an armed assault on the White House to kill Trump, and other cases have followed a similar pattern: public threats posted on social media, followed by federal grand jury indictments and arrests.
The indictment describes Southworth as using three separate platforms, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, to spread his alleged threats. The breadth of platforms matters because it suggests sustained, deliberate conduct rather than a single reckless post. Prosecutors appear to be building a case that Southworth engaged in a campaign of intimidation, not a momentary lapse.
Southworth has not publicly entered a plea. No attorney for Southworth has been identified in available reporting. His current custody status, whether he remains detained or has been released on bail, has not been disclosed.
The FBI's arrest of a Los Angeles man on similar charges earlier this year drew attention to the volume of threats federal agents are now tracking. The Southworth case adds another name to a growing list.
For years, a certain kind of political rhetoric has been treated as protected speech, tolerated as venting, or simply ignored by platforms and prosecutors alike. Southworth allegedly went far past rhetoric, into specific, repeated, public calls for the president's killing, doxxing of his lawyer's family, and threatening voicemails. Federal law draws a clear line, and the Justice Department appears determined to enforce it.
When the people responsible for protecting the president say threats are escalating, and when prosecutors back that up with indictments and arrests, the only reasonable question is why anyone thought posting assassination calls from behind a screen would end any other way.