DETROIT — U.S. Secret Service agents have arrested a Michigan man and accused the former U.S. Air Force airman of threatening to kill President Donald Trump over the administration's LGBTQ+ policies, according to federal court records unsealed Thursday.
Joshua Levi Young, 21, of Ishpeming, is accused of issuing several threats since January that called for the execution of Trump, including posts that read "Death to Trump," "Death To POTUS" and "Kill the dictator."
The case unsealed Thursday charged Young with threatening to kill and injure the president, and transmitting an interstate threat, both five-year felonies. U.S. Magistrate Judge Maarten Vermaat ordered Young held without bond after a detention hearing Thursday in Marquette.
Young's lawyer, Elizabeth LaCosse, did not respond immediately to a message seeking comment.
The charges are the latest filed amid an increase of violent antigovernment extremism in Michigan and beyond that has included two assassination attempts targeting Trump since last year. Other threats include a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard who was charged in May after prosecutors said he tried to attack a military base in Warren on behalf of the Islamic State.
The investigation started with an anonymous tip in mid-September that Young had threatened Trump on Facebook.
The next day, Secret Service investigators searched social media and found several threats posted on Instagram, Facebook and X this year.
"I am going to kill Trump raise him from the dead and kill him again," one Instagram post read. "Death to Trump."
Public records led to Young as the author of the posts, Special Agent Adam Rogers wrote in the criminal filing.
The agent and an Ishpeming Police sergeant questioned Young, who served in the Air Force from 2022-24, at his home Oct. 7.
"When asked why he made the comments documented in the open-source research, Young stated 'I don’t like what he’s doing,' referencing Trump," the agent wrote. "Young continued to explain he is a gay/non-binary person who aligns with the LGBTQ community and is angered by the administration’s policies on LGBTQ rights."
Young also said he was frustrated and saddened by the administration's handling of immigration rights.
"I hurt when others hurt," Young said and admitted to authoring the posts, according to the court filing.
"Young continued by stating the administration's 'lack of assistance and protecting the American people and protecting the elites' frustrates him," the agent wrote.
After the interview, investigators searched his home and seized Young's electronic devices.
Soon after, an employee at a Veterans' Affairs clinic in Ishpeming called police, saying Young entered the clinic and asked for legal help because he was "considering fleeing the country."
"The employee stated that her understanding based on the conversation she inferred that Young was looking to speak to an attorney to determine what countries did not extradite to the United States," the agent wrote.
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