A onetime Los Angeles podcaster and former TV host was arrested Thursday on federal charges for allegedly threatening to kill President Trump and stalking his personal lawyer and the attorney’s family.
Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40, was taken into custody at his apartment in the Westlake neighborhood, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
Southworth was charged in a three-count federal grand jury indictment with threats against the president, cyberstalking and harassing telephone calls in interstate communications.
He allegedly posted videos calling for Trump’s assassination and targeting the family of the president’s personal attorney.
“As threats against President Trump’s life escalate, the Department of Justice will respond with the full force of the law,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “We will hold perpetrators of violent threats accountable, and anyone who makes these threats online will not be allowed to hide behind their screens.”
According to a Wikipedia entry, Southworth is a self-described gay Christian former television presenter of “The Remix,” a syndicated show that featured Christian artists.
He is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
According to the indictment returned Wednesday, Southworth used social media earlier this year on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok as well as a website to publicly express his hatred toward Trump and the president’s supporters. Southworth used the online platforms to publicly engage in and encourage the abuse and harassment of Trump and to threaten violence against the president, prosecutors said.
On April 7, Southworth allegedly posted a video on his Instagram account that contained a series of threats, including, “I have been vocal in calling for the execution of Donald Trump” and “This government is illegitimate and out of control. It’s time for course correction. Kill Donald Trump,” court papers show.
Federal prosecutors contend that three months earlier, Southworth published a post on his TikTok account listing the home address of an attorney who had been Trump’s personal lawyer, along with a photograph of the attorney and another photograph of the lawyer’s home. In the same post, Southworth allegedly stated, “No peace for traitors.”
From January 2026 to May 2026, Southworth also left a series of abusive messages online and over voicemail to the attorney’s son, and he made harassing telephone calls to the lawyer’s wife, prosecutors allege.
“Southworth is charged with posting videos calling for President Trump’s assassination, then targeted the family of the president’s personal attorney by publishing their home address and phone numbers, and leaving voicemails threatening ‘Justice comes to your door,’” Essayli said in a post on X.
“Threats against the president of the United States are federal crimes,” the post said. “We will not tolerate threats of political violence in the United States. My office will prosecute anyone who crosses that line to the fullest extent of the law.”
If convicted, Southworth would face up to five years behind bars for threatening the president, a possible maximum of five years in for cyberstalking and up to two years for telephonic harassment, prosecutors said.
Early this morning, the FBI and partners arrested Benjamin Azariah Southworth in LA – after a federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly threatening to assassinate President Trump and his attorney Jay Sekulow.
Deadly threats like this are as vile as they are criminal -… pic.twitter.com/AMYk1T8E5U
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 3, 2026