On Friday, Pam Bondi announced the arrest of a "coward hiding behind a keyboard," the man accused of threatening to kill conservative influencer Benny Johnson.
69-year-old George Isbell Jr. is charged with mailing threatening communications to Johnson's home.
"The author of this letter made it very clear that he hated Benny because of his views and he wanted Benny dead," Bondi told reporters last week.
Johnson "immediately contacted" the Tampa Police Department after receiving the letter. The FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement assisted in the investigation, while the U.S. Postal Service determined the letter originated from San Diego, California.
Johnson has been a frequent guest on Jenna Ellis' radio program. She describes him as a "friend, like Charlie Kirk was, for over a decade."
Kirk was shot and killed in September during an event that his Turning Point USA organization was hosting in Utah.
At last week's press conference, Johnson shared details of the threat.
"He described in great detail how I'd be killed in an open field, just like Charlie (Kirk), how much blood would come out of my head and neck when it was blown off," Johnson relayed. "This individual described orphaning my four beautiful children and widowing my wife."
Bondi told reporters that "we've been living through a horrific cycle of political violence in this country" that cannot be allowed to continue.
Ellis agrees.
"I'm really grateful that the DOJ, Pam Bondi, and President Trump are taking this very seriously because no one anywhere, especially in America, deserves to be targeted or threatened simply because of their viewpoint," she contends. "I'm really grateful that an arrest has been made this soon, and I hope that this serves as a deterrent for anyone who thinks that it is in any way appropriate to threaten someone just because of their viewpoint."
Johnson has over four million followers on X and hosts a podcast. He lives with his family in the Tampa area, but authorities traced the threatening letter to Isbell in San Diego.
