The Department of Justice is making one thing crystal clear: threatening to kill the president or other federal officials is a serious crime, and posting those threats on social media will land you in federal prison.
The latest example comes out of Michigan, where a 67-year-old Grand Rapids resident named James Donald Vance Jr. has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for posting online threats to kill the President and Vice President of the United States, along with one of the President’s children.
According to a report, the case was announced by Timothy VerHey, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, whose office revealed the defendant had pleaded guilty to two felony offenses: threatening to kill or injure the President and Vice President, and interstate threatening communications. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The threats were posted in March and April 2025 on the social media platform Bluesky, where Vance operated under the alias “Diaperjdv.” In one chilling post, he stated he did not care whether he was shot by Secret Service or spent the rest of his life in prison for his actions.
U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney, presiding in Kalamazoo, called the conduct “grievous” and determined that only a prison sentence would adequately deter others from making similar threats.
This is not an isolated case in the region. Just weeks earlier, on October 20, 2025, Richard James Spring of Comstock Park was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and fined $2,000 for threatening to kill President Trump. That sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering in Grand Rapids. Two federal prison sentences for presidential threats, in the same district, within a single month.
U.S. Attorney VerHey addressed the broader issue directly. “The advent of the internet gives us all an opportunity to engage in the healthy exchange of ideas that are so important to a democracy,” he said. “But some would rather use this tool to threaten and intimidate, conduct that causes fear and damages our democratic ideals. When Vance said he planned to kill our President and the Vice President simply because he disagreed with them, he crossed a line we all understand and so had to be punished.
William Shink, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Detroit Field Office, added a firm warning to anyone considering similar action. “Threats against our nation’s leaders and their families will not be tolerated. Individuals who threaten the President, Vice President or any U.S. Secret Service protectee will be investigated and held accountable for their actions.”
The message from federal prosecutors is straightforward. Online anonymity is not a shield. The consequences are real, and they are severe.