A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Donald Trump just days before his second presidential inauguration.
Jacob Buckley, 22, posted several threats targeting Trump, then president-elect, on TikTok, the Justice Department revealed in a press release.
According to a plea agreement filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Buckley admitted to writing, “I hate MAGA republicans bro on god I’ll kill all of them” and “I’m going to kill Trump.”
On the same day, Buckley – using the account Jacob_buckley – wrote, “Bro we going into a literal oligarchy in 4 days and im going to kill Trump,” according to court documents.
Buckley faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and possibly up to three years of supervised release. The sentencing date has not been announced.
President Trump began his second term on January 20. Since then, multiple federal cases have been brought against individuals accused of threatening his life.
Last month, a 37-year-old man in Rhode Island wrote on Trump’s own social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “It’s a shame you won’t get to see the end of your f—ing term,” adding that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi would receive a “bullet to the head,” according to federal officials.
In July, a Michigan man pleaded guilty to threatening to assassinate Trump and Vice President JD Vance, stating that if either returned to his area, they would be “leaving in a body bag.”
Trump narrowly survived a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. The gunman was killed by law enforcement, but an attendee died. Months later, Ryan Routh was arrested for allegedly lying in wait with a rifle at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. He faces several charges, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
