Christian podcaster Benjamin Azariah Southworth arrested for threatening to kill Donald Trump

A Christian podcaster was arrested after he allegedly made threats against President Donald Trump and his personal attorney.

Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40, was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges that accuse him of "threatening to kill the president, cyberstalking and making harassing interstate calls," according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli.

In a post on X, Essayli said that Southworth was arrested at his home. He added that Southworth is also accused of targeting Trump's personal attorney by publishing their home address and phone numbers and leaving threatening voicemails, according to the LA Times.

Court documents obtained by the LA Times claim that Southworth sent a private text in January 2025 saying "But if I could Kill him, I wouldn't waste the opportunity," which was allegedly in reference to Trump.

Federal officials claim that Southworth has been using his website, holymenace.com, and his social media accounts to express "his hatred toward President Trump and his supporters."

"Since the [United States] Supreme Court has ruled today that psychological, spiritual, emotional and physical torture known as gay conversion therapy is free speech, I want to practice my free speech as a survivor of conversion therapy for five years," Southworth allegedly said in a video posted to his now-defunct Holy Menace Instagram page.

The same day the video was made, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado's ban on conversion therapy — a controversial practice some religious groups use to attempt to change a person's sexual orientation to "convert" them into heterosexuals — violated the First Amendment's free-speech clause.

"Kill Donald Trump. Kill that motherf****** pedophile in the White House. Kill that traitor of the United States Constitution. That's all," he allegedly said in the video.

Two days after he posted that video, Cole Tomas Allen was arrested at the White House Correspondents' Dinner for allegedly trying to assassinate Trump. The court documents claim that Southworth then watched a livestream by the son of Trump's personal attorney and left a message saying "IF AT FIRST YOU FAIL TRY AGAIN."

Several days after his video calling Trump a pedophile, Southworth posted another video in which he showed himself standing behind Trump in the Oval Office and allegedly holding a knife over him as if to stab him, according to the court documents.

Southworth also allegedly sold merchandise featuring the words "kill Trump" on his website.

"Threats against the President of the United States are federal crimes," Essayli said in his social media post. "We will not tolerate threats of political violence in the United States. My office will prosecute anyone who crosses that line to the fullest extent of the law."

Prior to his arrest, Southworth worked as a podcaster, writer, and television presenter on The Remix, a youth reality show that featured Christian musicians. Southworth revealed he was gay in 2008 and became an LGBT rights activist.

His current podcast is titled "Yass, Jesus," which features sexuality-affirming messages.