A 39-year-old man from Rochester, New York, has been arrested and charged with making online threats against Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former President Donald Trump. James Gerald Eckert Jr. allegedly used his full name while posting a series of threats on the group chat for "Triggered with Donald Trump Jr.," a podcast hosted by Trump Jr.
Federal prosecutors stated that the messages included explicit declarations of intent to kill, such as "I’m going to kill you, (expletive), I am going to kill this (expletive) on the screen." These threats were reportedly observed by a U.S. Secret Service agent on duty at Trump Jr.'s residence on June 18.
According to the criminal complaint, Eckert also posted multiple threats against Trump Jr. in an eight-minute video on the platform Rumble while watching a live stream of the podcast. In these messages, he allegedly stated, "Your [sic] (expletive) dead, its over guys," and "I’m going to go to YouTube and be calm and I’m still going to (expletive) kill Trump Junior. We’re going to get to World Peace. (Expletive) die guy. Try to get out of this surviving. (Expletive) you forever. (Expletive) you forever."
In addition to the threats against Donald Trump Jr., Eckert is accused of threatening Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski. Previously, federal authorities noted, Eckert had also posted threats against Rochester's Democratic Mayor, Malik Evans, using his full name on Facebook. One message to Mayor Evans read, "Mayor Malik Evans, I am coming for your family. Seriously, you will lose them to me personally. Stand by. This will not go away until you are dead or [REDACTED] is behind bars. Deal with this." Another post on June 11, directed at New York State Senator Samra Brook, stated, "You are going to die."
Eckert faces a charge of threats to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a member of the immediate family of the President, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He made his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen and is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for July 20.