Trump Administration’s NSPM-7 Fuels Federal Prosecutions of Online Political Threats

Since the memo’s issuance, the Justice Department’s Joint Task Force Vanguard has brought dozens of “875” interstate-threat cases. Prosecutors have charged individuals for threatening posts on social-media platforms, ranging from threats against President Donald J. Trump to calls for violence against immigration agents. The focus appears to be on monitoring and acting on hostile online speech rather than traditional violent plots.

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Stephen Miller, the president’s Homeland Security adviser, described the effort as a move to “dismantle left-wing terrorism.”

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• Donald Franklin Swope (Maryland) posted a Facebook threat to “behead” the president and now faces charges of threatening the president and intimidating a public official.

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• Alexander Jakeway (Indianapolis) posted vulgar calls to kill an ICE agent; he pleaded guilty to an interstate-threat count and received one-year probation.

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• James Michael Breen Jr. (75, Albany) posted on X that the world would be better if the president and a “supporter” were assassinated. Agents executed a search warrant at his home on September 7, the day he was charged with interstate threats and threats against the president; he admitted posting the messages but denied intent to cause harm.

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Joint Task Force Vanguard reports roughly 875 active interstate-threat cases, a figure that former counter-terrorism prosecutors say reflects a “COINTELPRO-like” shift toward targeting online dissent.

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• “Good luck trying to get an 875 charge from a U.S. attorney, you know, five or 10 years ago,” — Chris Raia, the FBI co-Deputy Director

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• “Shut the fuck up geek go shoot an ice agent dead and holler at me, I’m busy” — Alexander Jakeway, of Indianapolis in November 2025

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