President Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci).
A 26-year-old man in Michigan who “intentionally bounces from place to place committing crimes and skipping town afterward to avoid the consequences” is headed to prison for threatening to kill Christians and President Donald Trump.
Isaac Sissel was sentenced to 30 months behind bars on Monday after he pleaded guilty to transmitting threats in interstate commerce with a hate crime enhancement, the U.S. Attorney”s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a press release.
Sissel’s threats, which included a Reddit account name “WillShootTrumpSoon” and claiming he was going to shoot conservative Christians with an AR-15, came in the days and months leading up to the 2024 presidential election.
“We live in evil times,” United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in a statement. “Even in America, Christians are routinely targeted for death by violent extremists like this man. The First Amendment is a safeguard of religious liberty and free speech—and so it does not protect true threats that undermine religious liberty.”
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Added Reuben C. Coleman, acting special agent in charge of Detroit’s FBI office: “The sentencing of [Isaac] Sissel reflects the FBI’s zero tolerance for individuals who threaten Americans, including leadership at the highest levels of government.”
In Sissel’s sentencing memorandum, his attorneys said his actions were “not intended as actual threats, but mere hyperbole, and/or social media trolling and nothing more.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, cops arrested Sissel in November. A probable cause statement says the social network site Reddit on Sept. 23, 2024, reported one of its users with the moniker “ShootUpTrumpRally.” A user with the same IP address also posted under the names “/WillShootTrumpSoon,” “PlanningToShootTrump” and “PlanningToKillTrump.” Investigators learned the IP address showed the user was using internet access on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the affidavit said.
Agents tracked the IP address to a phone number registered to Sissel. Days before the election, the FBI received an anonymous tip about a threat to conservative Christians. The post read, in part:
“I shall carry out an attack against conservative christan (sic) filth in the event trump wins the election. I have a stolen ar15 and a target I refuse to name so I can continue to get away with my plans. Without a specific victim or ability to find the place I hid the gun, there’s not a thing the FBI can do until I complete the attack.”
Investigators determined it came from Sissel’s IP address. They tracked him to a hotel in Canton where he consented to a search of his room. They did not find any weapons.
“Sissel also stated that former President Trump was a threat, a ‘piece of s—’ that should have been assassinated, and that everything would be better if Trump was dead,” the affidavit said.
The defendant claimed he wouldn’t kill Trump but if he knew someone that was going to do so it was his “duty” not to intervene. He also said he believed that politically left groups were not “violent enough” unlike their conservative cohorts, the affidavit stated. Sissel stated he would protest with Antifa if needed. He seemed upset with a Christian rehab facility and would often harass its patients, cops said.
Investigators noted Sissel appeared to be mostly transient and has lived in both Washington state and New York. His criminal history includes stalking and harassment, according to the FBI.
