Ex-Marine Candidate Under Arrest for Threatening Trump

A former Marine who attracted attention to his Florida write-in congressional campaign with an explicit assassination threat against Donald Trump is now in handcuffs.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on July 16 the arrest and charging of Jacksonville’s William L. Upham. It is illegal to make an explicit threat against the life of the president of the United States, and that is just what Upham did. Upham already appeared in federal court and is still being detained. He could be looking at five years in federal prison if the feds secure a conviction. Given the three nearly successful attempts on Trump's life already, the feds cannot afford to dismiss such threats lightly.

What exactly did Upham do? He posted two videos to his social media accounts, wearing his military uniform (which violates military policy against uniforms in political media), during which he called for Trump’s assassination. "Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 11 states that the heavenly warrior will defeat President Trump and President Trump will be sent to hell with the beast," Upham ranted in one video. "God will help you. This is a call to arms. To all God's children, you must overthrow the Trump Administration on behalf of God." It's amazing how demonic violence clothes itself in heavenly trappings.

In another clip, Upham rambled, “Is it too late for us to turn from our sins? Is it too late for America? My answer is no. It's not too late. The lamb will be sacrificed to pay for all of our sins and our country will be saved from the Babylon that we have become.” You would think Upham could pick up a Bible and realize the individual who once urged the sacrifice of one man (Jesus) for the nation was the evil Caiaphas (see John 11:50). But I’d say Upham clearly needs a refresher course on a lot of biblical values if he thinks assassination of the president is the answer to his problems.

🚨ARRESTED & CHARGED🚨

A 35-year-old congressional write-in candidate from Jacksonville faces a federal charge for threatening to kill President Donald Trump.

William Upham allegedly posted on social media that Trump “must be killed.”

He was booked into the Duval County jail… pic.twitter.com/iB4NgUxCo3
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) July 16, 2026

Upham claimed wildly, “President Trump is the Antichrist, and he will be killed and sent to hell. God will prevail against evil.”

The DOJ press release added further:

Subsequent to these videos, the USSS received a communication that Upham had sent to a third-party which stated that he made the videos to “declare war” against President Trump and that he would “kill President Trump at the time that God chooses.” The USSS also became aware that Upham had access to firearms and had made concerning statements to law enforcement as recently as July 2026.

Hence, federal authorities brought the criminal complaint.

The DOJ press release did not state under which law it is charging Upham, 18 U.S. Code § 871, however, addresses threats "to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States." Anyone who "knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both." This prison sentence matches the one that the DOJ mentioned in its press release, indicating this is, in fact, the law under which the DOJ is charging Upham.

This is a developing case, and the DOJ will no doubt make more details available in time.

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