Marine veteran on GOP ballot for House seat charged over social media threats to kill Trump

A Marine veteran and Republican congressional candidate from Florida is facing the prospect of prison after he advocated on social media for killing President Donald Trump, who he said is the Antichrist.

William Upham, 35, appeared in federal court in Jacksonville on Thursday on charges of making threats against the president, a Justice Department statement said. A judge ordered him to remain in custody.

In a nearly seven-minute video shared widely online after the Marine Corps condemned his comments, Upham appeared in uniform, wearing his lieutenant insignia and calling for Trump’s death.

He had come to authorities’ attention earlier this week for videos he posted on social media as part of his campaign as a write-in candidate for Florida’s 5th Congressional District seat.

Upham chose to film himself in uniform “to declare a war against President Trump on behalf of God,” he told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday, adding that “the uniform represents the holy war between God and the Antichrist.”

Asked whether he was was planning to assassinate Trump himself, Upham said he would do so “at the time that God chooses, not when I choose.”

Upham entered the service in 2021 and was training to become a military lawyer before being medically discharged in May 2025, less than a year after reaching the rank of first lieutenant, the Marine Corps said.

His last duty assignment was the Wounded Warrior Battalion-West at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, the service said in a statement.

The unit supports wounded, ill and injured service members as they return to duty or transition to civilian life.

The Marine Corps said on X that Upham’s statements violated “the oath he swore to uphold,” while acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said Upham is no longer a Marine and “does not represent our values or ethos.”

Asked whether the video and statements raised concerns, U.S. Secret Service spokesperson Nathan Herring said Wednesday that the agency knew of his public comments and investigates “anything that can be perceived as a threat toward one of our protectees.”

Hours later, Herring confirmed that Upham had been arrested, referring a reporter to a criminal complaint filed in court Thursday detailing how investigators became aware of the videos.

The court filing says Upham violated federal law prohibiting threats against the president. Conviction carries penalties of up to five years in prison.

According to the court filing, the Secret Service received two reports Tuesday about Upham’s Instagram videos and agents later found at least two videos of him in uniform posted to Facebook containing statements investigators deemed threats against the president.

In one video, Upham described Trump as the Antichrist and a false messiah who he later said “will be killed and sent to hell.”

In his posts, Upham discusses his military oath to defend America against domestic enemies and his religious convictions based on biblical sources such as the Book of Revelation.

The last book of the New Testament, it contains an account of a prophetic vision about the battle between good and evil that has long been interpreted as a dire warning about the end times.

In a second video, a transcript of which is included in the court filing, Upham discussed Marine Corps weapons and attack tactics, such as rushing the president in pairs and firing two shots to the chest and one to the head.

The video appeared to have been removed from Upham’s Facebook page and Instagram by Thursday and was not independently confirmed.

Upham told Stars and Stripes that he had served on active duty from January 2024 to May 2025 but declined to disclose the reason for his medical discharge.

He also said he had retired from practicing law. His member profile in the Florida bar’s attorney directory lists his status as retired.

Upham qualified for the ballot in the state’s Republican primary to be held Aug. 18. The congressional district covers parts of Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra Beach and St. Augustine.

The seat is held by two-term incumbent Rep. John Rutherford, a Republican who has been in the House since 2017. In the 2024 election, Trump won Florida by more than 20 percentage points and carried all the counties in the district.

Upham promised “to restore bipartisanship” and “end the era of Washington insiders, extremism and excuses.”

Despite the charges against him, he has not withdrawn from the race.