A Lauderdale County woman is facing federal charges after investigators say she posted a Facebook threat against President Donald Trump just days before his planned appearance at the Alabama-Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa. Megan Lorraine Utz, 36, was indicted on two counts, including threatening the president and transmitting a threatening communication across state lines, and she is scheduled to be arraigned on November 4 in Birmingham.
According to the WSMV report, investigators traced the comment to a Facebook account under the name Kase Utz, which they say weighed in on Trump's planned attendance at the game. Agents linked the account to Megan Utz after matching the profile photo to her driver's license photo, including what investigators described as a distinctive neck tattoo, and social media company records reportedly matched her birthday and pointed to Florence. ABC 33/40 lists Utz's hometown as Courtland, while WSMV's reporting identifies her as being from Florence — a discrepancy that has not been resolved in the available court records.
The post itself, made around October 5, allegedly went further than vague venting. Per AL.com, the federal complaint quotes the message as saying, “I’ll put a bullet through him if he dares.” The Alabama-Georgia matchup was scheduled for October 10 in Tuscaloosa, and Trump had been expected to attend.
A Chase That Ended Two Blocks From a Shelter
Utz was last known to be staying at the Salvation Army in Florence, and that is where FBI and Secret Service agents, working alongside local police, went looking for her on October 6. Workers there reportedly told investigators Utz had left in a light-blue pickup truck and might be found at a nearby house, and agents soon located her truck on Midway Street.
When officers arrived, Utz briefly opened the front door before locking it again and running on foot, according to the account relayed by WSMV. Officers caught up with her about two blocks away. She was arrested not on the federal threat allegation directly, but on a separate local warrant for harassing communications — the Guin Police Department had an active misdemeanor warrant out for her, as Yahoo News also reported in its coverage of the indictment.
Unusual Statements and a Phone Sent for Forensic Review
During the arrest, officers took an iPhone from Utz. She reportedly asked them, “How am I going to shoot him?” and told investigators she had suffered 18 concussions and had taken several prescription medications. She also said she believed malware was responsible for the Facebook post, asking that her phone be checked for signs of hacking. The device was sent to an FBI forensics lab for examination, officers said.
The court file connected to the case reportedly also references a 2024 local warrant over harassing messages, a recent theft report naming Utz as a suspect, and a note that she had been removed from both a rehab facility and the Salvation Army at some point. None of those additional matters have been confirmed as part of the federal charges themselves.
Federal Charges and the Trip That Never Happened
Federal charges were filed against Utz on October 8 in federal court in Alabama, according to the timeline relayed by WSMV. Trump ultimately did not attend the October 10 game; AL.com reported that his decision not to travel to Tuscaloosa was attributed to the threat of Hurricane Isaias, not the Facebook post.
The indictment contains only allegations, and Utz is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, ABC 33/40 noted in its coverage. The FBI, Secret Service, Florence police and Guin police all took part in the investigation that led to the charges.
Threats against the nation's current and former leaders have drawn heightened federal attention in recent years. A CBS News transcript of a 60 Minutes segment cited the Secret Service director saying the agency had logged 10,000 threats against the people it protects since January, though that figure was not specific to this case. Federal prosecutors in other states have brought similar charges recently — the Department of Justice announced charges against a Clearwater, Kansas man under the federal statute covering threats against the president, and the FBI's Dallas field office reported a Springtown, Texas man was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison after repeatedly threatening the president and federal immigration officers.
