39 year old charged with threats to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a member of the immediate family of the President
BUFFALO, N.Y.–U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that James Gerald Eckert, Jr., 39, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with threats to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a member of the immediate family of the President, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, on June 18, 2026, a member of the U.S. Secret Service on duty at the residence of President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was alerted that several threats were made against Trump Jr. The threats, made in the group chat feed of Trump Jr.’s podcast “Triggered with Donald Trump Jr., included: “im going to kill you, (expletive), I am going to kill this (expletive) on the screen.” The threats were posted by an account with the username JamesGeraldEckertJr/@JamesGeraldEckertJr.
While viewing the podcast on the online video platform Rumble, JamesGeraldEckertJr/@JamesGeraldEckertJr was also streaming himself on Rumble. Eckert, Jr. repeats, both verbally, as well as by posts in the live chat, similar threats against Trump Jr. as well as the CEO of Rumble, for most of the duration of an approximately eight-minute video. The threats included, “your (expletive) dead, its over guys” and “I’m going to go to YouTube and be calm and I’m still going to (expletive) kill Trump Junior. We’re going to get to World Peace. (Expletive) die guy. Try to get out of this surviving. (Expletive) you forever. (Expletive) you forever.”
On June 7, 2026, prior to the threats made against Donald Trump Jr., Eckert, Jr. posted a message on the Facebook account of “James Gerald Eckert Jr.” stating: “Mayor Malik Evans, I am coming for your family. Seriously, you will lose them to me personally. Stand by. This will not go away until you are dead or [REDACTED] is behind bars. Deal with this.” On June 11, 2026, the same Facebook account made a threatening post against New York State Senator Samra Brook, on the senator’s official Facebook page. The comment stated: “You are going to die.”
Eckert made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen and was held pending a detention hearing on July 20, 2026.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis A. Testani. The complaint the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Charles T. Perras and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Smith.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
