Man arrested over death threats to conservative podcaster Benny Johnson as DOJ cracks down on violent political rhetoric
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday announced
the arrest of a man accused of threatening to kill conservative commentator Benny Johnson, in what authorities say was a disturbing copycat plot inspired by the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Authorities arrested George Isabel Jr. for threatening to make “orphans” of Johnson’s children, just days after Charlie’s assassination,” Bondi told reporters at a press conference in Florida.
“Benny received a letter at his home where he and [his wife] Kate are raising their beautiful, beautiful young family,” she said outside the US Attorney’s Office in Tampa. “The author of this letter made it very clear that he hated Benny because of his views and he wanted Benny dead.”
Isabel is now charged in federal court with mailing threatening communications following his arrest Friday morning, she said. If convicted, Isabel — whom Bondi called a “
left-wing radical” — will serve prison time, she said. Speaking alongside Bondi, Johnson revealed details about the letter’s chilling contents — noting the author’s blatantly apparent
political motivations for writing the letter.
“The individual who wrote me described why he wanted me dead: I was a white, cis, Christian Trump supporter,” he said. “They described in great detail how I would be killed in an open field just like Charlie. How much blood would come out of my head and neck when it would come off. This individual described orphaning my four children and widowing my beautiful wife with great joy. We cannot allow this political violence to continue any longer,” she said. “This arrest will serve as a reminder to many — do not do this, we will find you.”
The attorney general revealed that there are similar cases across the country — and that the Justice Department is cracking down on those who sent the threatening communications.
“This guy thought he got away with this, and he thought he could hurt Benny and his family, and it’s not going to happen,” she said. “We have open cases other open cases all over this country and we’re going to find you.”
The arrest comes as the Trump administration aims to combat political violence, renewing its focus on groups such as the far-left “Antifa” movement — which Homeland Security Secretary
Kristi Noem on Wednesday claimed is “just as sophisticated” as Hamas, ISIS and MS-13. Trump designated the group as a domestic terrorist organization late last month, following Kirk’s death.
Johnson, who was friends with Kirk, said he wanted “to be able to debate like Charlie did” without the fear of assassination — and called on Democrats to “disavow” political violence. Kirk, 31, was fatally shot while debating students during his “American Comeback” speaking tour at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. The alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, was “
deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,” according to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and other investigators of the case.
“I want peace in my nation, I love this country. I want to be able to raise my family in peace — that is our birthright,” Johnson said Friday. “But you cannot make peace with evil as a Christian, you cannot unite with people who want you dead. I want unity in this nation, I want to be able to agree on more than what we disagree on. But for that first to happen, we must understand the battle we are fighting, good versus evil, darkness versus light.”
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