A serious escalation in political threats has emerged as conservative commentator Benny Johnson revealed details of death threats sent to his family home, where he resides with his wife and four young children. The Department of Justice has arrested and charged California resident George Russell Isbell Jr. in connection with the threatening communications.
The incident occurs in the wake of the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, adding gravity to the current climate of political violence. Johnson, who founded TPUSA Productions in 2018 and maintained a close friendship with Kirk, addressed these concerns during a Friday press conference alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi.
According to Johnson, the threats specifically targeted him for his identity as a white, male, Christian Trump supporter. The communications contained explicit details about a planned assassination, mirroring the circumstances of Kirk’s death. “The threats described a detailed scenario of execution in an open field, with specific references to orphaning my children and widowing my wife,” Johnson stated during the press conference.
The situation has taken on broader political significance as Johnson drew parallels to concurrent events in Virginia, where the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones, faces scrutiny over recently revealed text messages. These communications allegedly contained violent fantasies directed at Republican leadership, including threats against their families.
The Virginia situation has become particularly contentious as Jones, running for the state’s highest law enforcement position, reportedly wrote about “two bullets to the head” for a state GOP leader and made threatening statements about Republican children. Despite the severity of these revelations, Democratic leadership has largely remained silent on calls for Jones to withdraw from the race.
Johnson’s wife, Kate, has publicly called on California Governor Gavin Newsom to address the threats, given that the suspect resides in his state. The incident has sparked a broader discussion about the normalization of political violence and the responsibility of political leaders to condemn such behavior, regardless of partisan affiliation.
The Department of Justice continues its investigation into the threats, while political observers note this case represents a troubling pattern in the escalation of political discourse into physical threats. Law enforcement officials emphasize that threats of violence, regardless of political motivation, remain serious federal crimes that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
As this story develops, questions persist about the role of political leadership in addressing and preventing the normalization of violence in political discourse, and the responsibility of both major parties to maintain civil boundaries in political debate.
