A Michigan man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in a social media post, saying that either of them ever returned to his city, they would be leaving “in a body bag.”
The suspect, James Donald Vance Jr. — not to be confused with current the current vice president, James David “JD” Vance — was taken into custody this week and charged with one count of threatening to kill or injure the President and Vice President of the United States and two counts of sending an interstate threatening communication, court records show.
According to an indictment filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, federal authorities are alleging that James Vance posted the threat online using the social media platform Bluesky.
The indictment states that James Vance “knowingly and willfully” threatened to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon, the President and Vice President of the United States.”
He allegedly made the incriminating post on April 1, 2025, under the username “Diaperjdv,” writing:
“If tRump, Vance, or Musk ever come to my city again, they will leave it in a body bag. I will either be shot by a secret service sniper or spend the rest of my life in prison. I’ve only got about 10 years of life left anyway so I don’t f—ing care either way.”
The charge of threatening to kill the president carries a maximum penalty of five years in a federal prison as well as a fine of up to $250,000.
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The threatening communication charge in connection with that post states that in writing the comment on Bluesky, James Vance was “consciously disregarding a substantial risk that his communication would be viewed as threatening violence against other persons.”
The second threatening communication charge stems from a March 7 post in which James Vance allegedly threatened the president in response to another user’s post that was titled “Donald Trump Jr. Considering a Run for President in 2028.”
In response, James Vance wrote, “I will murder that stupid f—er before he gets secret service protection,” according to the indictment.
James Vance appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maarten Vermaat on Wednesday and formally entered a plea of not guilty to all three charges. Records show that he was released on a personal recognizance bond. Conditions of his release include not using or possessing any alcohol or narcotic drugs without a prescription, submitting to drug testing, not leaving the Western District of Michigan without permission from the court, and not possessing a firearm.
The defendant is also required to participate in a computer monitoring program and is prohibited from having “access to any social media platform.”
The case has since been assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney, a George W. Bush appointee.
Earlier this month, a 73-year-old man in California was arrested for making multiple threats against Trump via social media, including writing that he would “not rest” until the president was “six feet under and off the face of the earth.”
