A suburban Chicago man was sentenced on July 13 to more than three years in federal prison for making a true threat to kill multiple public officials, including President Donald J. Trump, the 47th and 45th President of the United States.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Trent Schneider, age 58 of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, posted a video on Instagram on Oct. 21, 2025, in which he stated: “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.”
On the same day as the Instagram post, Schneider appeared at the Lake County courthouse in Illinois and told the judge presiding over his pending foreclosure case that he would burn down the courthouse.
A federal jury in Chicago convicted Schneider earlier this year of making a true threat in interstate commerce to injure a person. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced him on Wednesday to three years and two months in federal prison.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jim Morley, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office; with assistance from local law enforcement agencies including Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Winthrop Harbor Police Department.
“As I have repeatedly stated since becoming U.S. Attorney, threats against public officials are an attack on our democracy and must be met with swift and serious consequences,” said Andrew S. Boutros. “The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is working in lockstep with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to vigorously investigate and prosecute criminal threats of violence, including political violence. Those who cross the line into such conduct and activity will not find safe haven in the Northern District of Illinois.”
“Safeguarding the President of the United States and all our protectees is the U.S. Secret Service’s top priority, as this case demonstrates,” said Jim Morley.