A 33-year-old Butler, Pennsylvania, man who posted threats to assassinate President Donald Trump and murder ICE agents on YouTube, using the handle "Mr Satan", pleaded guilty this week to two federal counts of threatening to assault and murder U.S. officials and federal law enforcement officers, the Christian Post reported.

Shawn Monper entered his plea before U.S. District Judge W. Scott Hardy. Under a plea agreement detailed in a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Monper also accepted responsibility for the remaining charges he faced, eight in all, each carrying a potential sentence of five to 10 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

The guilty plea closes one chapter of a case that began with months of escalating online threats and ended with FBI agents and Butler Township police seizing three handguns from a man who had told the world exactly what he planned to do.

Months of threats on YouTube

Authorities said Monper posted a series of threatening messages on YouTube from January through April of last year, all under the "Mr Satan" account. The posts grew more specific and more alarming over time.

In February 2025, Monper wrote: "I have bought several guns and been stocking up on ammo since Trump got in office." That same month, he posted: "Nah, we just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon, all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way."

By March 2025, the language had sharpened further. He wrote, "Eventually im going to do a mass shooting." In another post that month, he declared, "ICE are terrorist people, we need to start killing them."

National Review reported that on March 4, 2025, Monper posted that he was "going to assassinate" the president "myself." Federal investigators also said Monper had obtained a firearms permit after Trump's inauguration and had been purchasing guns and ammunition.

Fox News reported that investigators found Monper had also been buying body armor, adding another layer to what prosecutors described as a pattern of preparation that matched his online rhetoric.

The FBI closes in

In April of last year, the FBI National Threat Operations Section was alerted to Monper's YouTube posts. Agents linked the "Mr Satan" account to Monper's home in Butler. On April 9, 2025, the FBI, with assistance from the Butler Township Police Department, arrested him and seized three handguns he had purchased earlier that year.

The New York Post reported that the FBI was notified about Monper's YouTube account on a Tuesday and quickly traced it back to his Butler residence, underscoring how rapidly authorities moved once the threat crossed their radar.

The case is not the only recent instance of federal agents intercepting online threats against the president and immigration officers. An Ohio man was also recently arrested by the FBI for alleged online threats to kill ICE agents and President Trump, a pattern that suggests a broader climate of hostility directed at federal law enforcement carrying out immigration policy.

Attorney General Bondi responds

Then-Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a statement praising the work of the FBI and local law enforcement. As Just The News reported, Bondi said:

"I want to applaud the outstanding and courageous investigative work of the FBI and the Butler Township Police Department, who thankfully identified and apprehended this individual before he could carry out his threats against President Trump's life and the lives of other innocent Americans."

Bondi added a broader warning aimed at anyone considering similar conduct:

"Rest assured that whenever and wherever threats of assassination or mass violence occur, this Department of Justice will find, arrest, and prosecute the suspect to the fullest extent of the law and seek the maximum appropriate punishment."

That is the kind of clear, unambiguous statement the public deserves from its top law enforcement official. Threats against a sitting president and the men and women enforcing federal immigration law are not protected speech. They are federal crimes.

Butler's grim recent history

The fact that Monper lived in Butler, Pennsylvania, carries its own weight. On July 13, 2024, while Trump was campaigning for president in Butler, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate him, piercing the upper part of Trump's right ear before a Secret Service counter-sniper shot Crooks dead.

That a second individual from the same small Pennsylvania town would later be arrested for threatening to kill the same president is a grim coincidence, and a reminder that the heated rhetoric circulating online does not stay online forever.

The political environment around Trump's presidency has generated friction from many directions, including international disputes and domestic unrest. But friction is one thing. Explicit, repeated threats to assassinate the president and gun down federal agents are something else entirely.

What the plea means

Monper pleaded guilty to two of the eight counts he faced. Under the plea agreement, he accepted responsibility for the remaining charges as well. The specific nature of those additional charges was not detailed in the press release, but the two counts to which he pleaded guilty, threatening to assault and murder U.S. officials and federal law enforcement officers, each carry five to 10 years in federal prison.

Sentencing has not yet been announced. Judge Hardy will determine the final penalty.

Newsmax reported that the FBI's National Threat Operations Section received an emergency disclosure about the YouTube threats, which included posts explicitly naming Trump, Elon Musk, and ICE agents as targets. The scope of the threats, spanning multiple officials and agencies, helps explain why Monper faced eight separate charges.

The case also raises a straightforward question: how many other accounts on YouTube and other platforms are posting similar threats right now, and how quickly are they being flagged? In Monper's case, the posts ran from January through April before the FBI was alerted. That is a significant window.

Threats against ICE agents have become a recurring concern as immigration enforcement has intensified. Political tensions around the administration's policies have spilled into public discourse in ways that sometimes blur the line between opposition and incitement. Monper's posts did not blur that line. They erased it.

Accountability, not ambiguity

The Department of Justice treated this case the way it should be treated: as a serious criminal matter, not a free-speech gray area. Monper did not merely express anger. He named his targets. He described his weapons. He laid out a timeline. And he did it all in public, under a handle that left no room for misunderstanding his intentions.

The FBI identified him, local police helped arrest him, and federal prosecutors secured a guilty plea. That is the system working the way it is supposed to work, and a reminder that the current administration has made clear it will not tolerate threats against the officials and officers carrying out its agenda.

When someone tells you who they are, and what they plan to do, the only responsible answer is to take them at their word and act before they do.