Nov. 4 (UPI) — Federal prosecutors have charged a suburban Chicago man with a history of making threats online for allegedly calling for the execution of President Donald Trump.
Trent Schneider, 57, of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., was arrested Monday morning and was to make his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert in Chicago that afternoon, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The criminal complaint, filed Friday, states the alleged threats were made against the president in posts to the Instagram account truthreaper888, which prosecutors allege was run by Schneider.
According to the court document, Schneider allegedly made threats in an expletive-laden video posted, stating that he was going to “get some guns” and “take care of business myself.”
“I’m tired of all you [expletive] frauds. People need to [expletive] die and people are going to die. [Expletive] all of you, especially you Trump. You should be executed.”
The video was posted to the account 18 times between Oct. 16 and Oct. 21.
Prosecutors also allege that between Sept. 26 and Oct. 21, an illustration of Trump behind a prohibition sign was published to the account 20 times. The picture was accompanied by the caption: “THIS IS NOT A THREAT!!! AFTER LOSING EVERYTHING and My House Auction is 11.04.2025”
“Donald Trump SHOULD BE EXECUTED!!! She cares NOTHING ABOUT YOU or ME!!!”
A concerned citizen in Florida had tipped off authorities to the post after seeing it online, according to the complaint.
The court document states that Schneider is in a pending foreclosure action, with a foreclosure auction scheduled for Monday.
This is not the first time that Schneider has been investigated over online comments.
In 2022, he allegedly posted multiple violent messages about public officials on various social media accounts, and was arrested that December after allegedly making threats to “shoot up” a T-Mobile store.
In March 2023, he was found unfit to stand trial on the related charges.
Trump is a survivor of an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, when a bullet fired from a would-be assassin grazed his ear while he was campaigning in Pennsylvania as the Republican nominee for president.