A federal jury in Chicago found a suburban Illinois man guilty of making true threats against multiple public officials, including President Donald J. Trump, and the case highlights how threats aimed at political figures are being prosecuted. The conviction carries a potential five-year federal prison term and follows a three-day trial in U.S. District Court. The proceedings and official statements stress that threats against elected leaders and the judiciary are criminal and will be met with enforcement.
Trent Schneider, 58, of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, was convicted of making a true threat in interstate commerce to injure a person. The jury reached the verdict after deliberating through a three-day trial in federal court in Chicago. The statute tied to the conviction allows for a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, and no sentencing date has been announced.
Prosecutors say the case turned on a social media video Schneider posted on Oct. 21, 2025, and on statements he made in person at a local courthouse. In the video, Schneider said: “People like me have suffered real [expletive] crimes from [expletive] judges, doctors, lawyers, police. They all should be killed. All of them should be executed for what they’ve done . . . I’m going to get some guns. I know where I can get a lot of [expletive] guns and I am going to take care of business myself. I’m tired of all you [expletive] frauds. People need to [expletive] die and people are going to die. [Expletive] all of you, especially you Trump. You should be executed.”
The video also included a caption that stated, in part: “THIS IS NOT A THREAT!!! AFTER LOSING EVERYTHING and My House Auction date is 11.04.2025 @realDonaldTrump SHOULD BE EXECUTED!!!” The caption’s language and the on-camera threats were central to the prosecution’s argument that these were true threats, not protected political speech.
Authorities say Schneider also appeared at the Lake County courthouse on the same day and told the judge handling his foreclosure matter that he would burn the courthouse down. Those in-court remarks were cited by prosecutors as additional evidence of an immediate and dangerous intent. Local law enforcement and federal agents investigated the combined social media and in-person threats before charges were brought.
U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros emphasized the message prosecutors intend to send with the verdict. “Let this conviction send a clear message that it is never acceptable to threaten a political figure or a member of the judiciary,” Boutros said. He added that political violence is intolerable and that the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office will pursue such crimes to the fullest extent.
The announcement named Andrew S. Boutros and Dai Tran as the officials who revealed the verdict, and it noted assistance from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Winthrop Harbor Police Department. The government’s case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hanna Helwig and Paige Nutini. Federal and local partners worked together on the investigation that led to the indictment and conviction.
SAIC Dai Tran of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office made the seriousness of these threats clear in his remarks. “Threats of political violence are not a joke,” said SAIC Tran. “They are a Federal crime. The U.S. Secret Service vigorously pursues all threats to harm the President of the United States. I am proud of our agents’ work in this case and thank our partners at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Winthrop Harbor Police Department for their assistance in bringing this defendant to justice. I also want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois for prosecuting this case to its conclusion.”
The outcome reinforces a straightforward Republican principle about law and order: threatening public officials crosses a line that courts and law enforcement must and will enforce. Expect federal prosecutors and the Secret Service to continue treating threats aimed at elected leaders and judges as criminal matters, not political theater. The conviction stands as a reminder that speech that amounts to a true threat carries legal consequences.
