A TikTok activist built a merchandise business around demanding the execution of the president of the United States.
Federal agents watched that business grow for months before making an arrest Wednesday morning.
The federal indictment they filed names a target well beyond the president.
From Christian Reality TV Host to Federal Defendant
Southworth, 40, didn't stumble into this by accident.
He built it deliberately – posting videos on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube over several months with one explicit, documented mission: getting the president of the United States killed.
On March 31, he uploaded a video containing three words.
On April 7, he removed any doubt about what he meant: "I have been vocal in calling for the execution of Donald Trump."
No ambiguity.
No plausible deniability.
No "it was a joke" defense.
Southworth said he had been vocal – past tense, an acknowledgment of a pattern he was proud of.
This is the same man who previously hosted The Remix on Trinity Broadcasting Network and co-hosted a comedy podcast called Yass, Jesus!
He described himself as an "artivist" and ran HolyMenace.com, which moved from Christian media commentary to something else entirely.
On that platform, he sold merchandise printed with threatening phrases.
He wasn't just posting videos.
He was building a brand around calling for the president's death and running a business on top of it.
The Secret Service and DOJ watched the brand grow until Wednesday morning, when deputies showed up.
Federal charges: threats against the president, cyberstalking, and harassing telephone calls in interstate communications.
The Calls to Jay Sekulow's Family Were Only the Beginning
The charges against Southworth aren't limited to the president.
He posted the home address of Trump's personal attorney Jay Sekulow on TikTok with a direct message attached: "No peace for traitors."
Then he called Sekulow's family.
Approximately 13 times.
He left a voicemail promising that "there's going to come a day when justice comes to your door."
He also posted the family's phone numbers online – an invitation for his followers to pick up where he left off.
This is not a man who lost his temper once on social media.
This is a documented, sustained campaign targeting the president and a private attorney's family across multiple platforms, multiple months, and multiple jurisdictions.
That's why the charges include cyberstalking and harassment in interstate communications, not just a single threat count.
Attorney General Todd Blanche – narrowly confirmed weeks ago – vowed aggressive prosecution of threats against the president.
Southworth is about to find out what that means in practice.
The Content Ecosystem That Turned Southworth Into a Federal Case
This is not an isolated incident.
A Maryland man faced federal charges just days before Southworth's arrest for posts threatening Trump online.
A Raleigh man was sentenced to federal prison in 2025 for threatening to kill the president.
The Secret Service has been running down cases across the country for more than a year.
What connects them is the environment that made making these threats feel safe and rewarding.
A media culture that treated hostility toward Trump as activism, rewarded it with followers and engagement, and never drew a line between heated rhetoric and federal criminal exposure.
Southworth sold merchandise with threatening phrases and got customers.
He posted "Kill Donald Trump" on TikTok and got views.
Nobody around him apparently thought it was worth mentioning that Title 18 Section 871 of the United States Code makes threatening the president a federal felony carrying up to five years in prison.
The left built the content ecosystem that made Southworth possible.
He's sitting in federal custody in Los Angeles right now because he believed the ecosystem's implicit message: that saying what he was saying would get him a platform, not a prosecution.
He was wrong.
So is the next person recording a video like his.
They should watch what happens to Southworth before they post it.
Sources:
- DOJ, "Westlake Man Arrested, Federal Indictment Charging Him With Threatening President Trump's Life," U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, September 4, 2026.
- Fox News, "Feds Bust LGBT Podcaster, Former Christian Reality TV Star Over Alleged Threats to Kill Trump," Fox News, September 4, 2026.
- Washington Times, "Maryland Man Facing Federal Charges for Posts Threatening Trump," Washington Times, September 1, 2026.
- U.S. Secret Service, "Raleigh Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Threatening to Kill POTUS," U.S. Secret Service, December 2025.
