Federal prosecutors have charged a 32-year-old Miami Beach resident with threatening President Donald Trump and senior administration officials following a months-long barrage of violent posts on social media.
Nathaniel Sanders II appeared in Miami federal court for the first time May 5, 2026, facing charges of threatening the president and transmitting threats across state lines, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced the same day. A conviction could bring up to 10 years in federal prison.
Between January 28 and April 22, 2026, Sanders unleashed violent posts and videos on X and Instagram targeting Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to a criminal complaint filed by a Secret Service special agent.
How The Investigation Unfolded
The investigation launched in January after a U.S. Capitol Police special agent flagged an unspecified threat Sanders made against Trump to the Secret Service’s Protective Intelligence Operations Center. An analyst with the Secret Service’s Open Source Intelligence Branch independently surfaced multiple posts from Sanders’ X account within minutes of the Capitol Police tip.
One of those posts threatened to “bomb” the White House. Minutes later, Sanders followed up with a chilling two-word message: “I mean it.”
Investigators traced the X account back to Sanders and identified two Instagram accounts in his name. Those accounts, prosecutors said, contained a trove of videos of Sanders “complaining and speaking angrily about his hatred” for Trump, Rubio — who also serves as Acting National Security Advisor — and Bondi.
Law enforcement officers went to Sanders’ Miami Beach home in February to interview him about the initial posts. He refused to talk, instead calling the officers “pedophiles,” the complaint says. The Secret Service special agent who authored the filing later confirmed that Sanders was the man depicted in all of the videos.
Disturbing Videos Aimed At The First Lady
An April 10 Instagram video appeared directed at First Lady Melania Trump. Sanders called the president “the biggest pedophile” in the world before stating what alarmed federal investigators most.
“I don’t know what to do Melania, like, all I got is a gun. It’s the only thing I can use now is a gun,” Sanders said, according to the complaint.
Two minutes afterward, Sanders posted another video targeting Rubio. Speaking partly in Spanish, he declared “yo no tengo miedo de nadie” — “I’m not scared of anyone” — before switching to English.
A week later, Sanders posted another video calling Trump an “orange pedophile a– pervert” and warning, “I’m going to kill you.” Two days following that, prosecutors say, he turned his attention to Bondi from his second Instagram account, posting threats including “Imma kill all y’all pedophiles” and “Immakill you.”
In another post aimed at the president, Sanders told Trump to “come find me” so that he “can stomp you in the ground.”
Prosecutors Draw A Hard Line
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida used the announcement to send a blunt message about the boundaries of permissible speech in an increasingly volatile political climate.
Special Agent in Charge Michael Townsend of the Secret Service’s Miami Field Office added his own warning to would-be offenders. “Making threats against the president of the United States is a federal crime, and we treat it with the seriousness it deserves every time,” Townsend said. The agency also cautioned that deleting posts, hiding behind a username, or firing off angry messages online does not make threats any less serious in the eyes of federal law. Despite the volume and severity of the alleged threats, the complaint contains no indication that Sanders took any concrete steps to carry out an attack. Still, federal authorities have moved swiftly, citing the explicit references to firearms, bombings and physical violence as more than enough to warrant charges.
What Comes Next In Court
A public defender represented Sanders at his initial hearing on Monday but did not immediately respond to an email request for comment, court records show. A detention hearing was set for Thursday, May 7, and his arraignment is scheduled for May 18.
This is not Sanders’ first brush with the law. In March 2026, he was arrested on a criminal mischief charge after destroying shelves at a South Beach vape shop, causing approximately $7,000 in damage.
The case is the latest in a string of alleged plots and threats against Trump that federal agents have intercepted since his return to the White House last year. While many such threats are dismissed as venting or political hyperbole, prosecutors made clear that posts naming firearms, bombs and specific officials cross a clear legal line — one Sanders is now accused of crossing repeatedly.
