Nathaniel Sanders II, a 31-year-old Miami Beach resident, is facing federal charges after investigators say he posted a string of violent online videos and messages threatening President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. A criminal complaint made public last week claims the posts were explicit enough to trigger a Secret Service investigation and an in-person visit to his South Beach apartment.
Threats Investigators Say Came in Videos and Posts
According to the federal complaint, agents documented several alarming posts. One Jan. 28 message read, "Imma bomb the f---ing White House you f---ing pedophile," and an April 19 video allegedly showed Sanders saying, "Imma kill all y’all pedophiles," investigators say. Secret Service agents told prosecutors they also reviewed more Instagram and X posts from April that used similarly violent language directed at Rubio and Bondi. Details from the complaint and the online messages were first laid out in a report on the violent social media posts.
Federal Charges And What They Mean
Prosecutors have charged Sanders with threatening the president and with interstate threatening communications under federal law. Threats against the president are prohibited under 18 U.S.C. § 871, according to the Legal Information Institute, and threats transmitted across state lines can be charged under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), as described by the Legal Information Institute. Those statutes can carry prison terms in more serious cases, although courts still weigh First Amendment protections when deciding whether speech crosses the line into a crime.
Local Record: South Beach Smoke Shop Arrest
Court and police records indicate this is not Sanders’ first run-in with law enforcement in Miami Beach. In late March, surveillance video and a police report from a South Beach vape and smoke shop described roughly $7,000 in merchandise damaged after display shelves were hurled to the ground, which led to a criminal mischief arrest. That earlier arrest was detailed in a report on about $7,000 in damaged merchandise.
Where The Case Stands Now
Secret Service agents later went to an apartment near 15th Terrace and West Avenue on South Beach to question Sanders. According to federal court records, he was being held in federal custody in downtown Miami as of this week. The Secret Service and federal prosecutors have not released further information, and the investigation remains open as federal authorities decide whether to seek a formal indictment.
