A former Christian television host and podcaster was taken into custody in Los Angeles on Thursday, accused of threatening to kill President Donald Trump and of harassing the president’s personal attorney and his family through repeated online messages.
Federal prosecutors for the Central District of California identified the suspect as Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he was arrested Thursday morning and is expected to appear before a federal judge in downtown Los Angeles, where he will formally hear the charges against him.
Investigators say Southworth used his accounts on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok—platforms he had built a following on through Christian-themed content—to publicly voice hostility toward the president and his supporters. Authorities allege that some of these posts crossed into explicit threats against Trump’s life, while others targeted the president’s personal lawyer and his relatives with sustained online harassment.
Details about Southworth’s broadcasting career and the exact content of the messages that triggered the investigation have not been fully disclosed. The case adds to a series of recent security concerns surrounding the president, and comes as federal authorities continue to monitor threats made through social media platforms.
For more details on the case and the suspect’s background, read the original report at El Tiempo.
Source: Arrestan a expresentador cristiano acusado de promover el asesinato de Trump en redes sociales: ¿quién es? (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: rushysgirl, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).