AG Bondi announces arrest in Benny Johnson threatening letter case
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US Attorney General Pam Bondi said a “coward hiding behind a keyboard” was arrested this week for allegedly sending a threatening letter to conservative influencer Benny Johnson following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
George Isbell Jr., 69, was arrested Tuesday in San Diego, California. He will be charged federally with sending a threatening communication, according to Bondi. On his website, Johnson said he resides in Tampa, Florida, where the arrest announcement was made Friday.
“Benny is a well-known media personality with a very similar message to Charlie’s. Based largely on faith and love of country. Just days after Charlie’s assassination, Benny received a letter home where he and Kate are raising their beautiful, beautiful young family,” Bondi said. “The author of this letter made it clear that he hated Benny because of his views and wanted Benny dead.”
“He was a coward who hid behind a keyboard and thought he could get away with it. That’s why we’re here today. You’re not going to allow yourself to threaten people like that. And I’m proud to announce that we have arrested the author of that letter,” Bondi added.
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Conservative influencer Benny Johnson, right, allegedly received a threatening letter following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday October 10, 2025. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
She said earlier that “we are experiencing a horrible cycle of political violence in this country.”
“We’ll catch you if you think you can do something like that,” Bondi said. “We don’t care if you are across the country in California, we will find you. We will arrest you, we will extradite you, and we will bring you to justice. We cannot allow this political violence to continue any longer. This arrest will serve as a reminder to many: Don’t do this. We will find you.”
U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe of the Middle District of Florida told reporters Friday that Johnson “immediately contacted” the Tampa Police Department after receiving the letter. The FBI and Florida Department of Law Enforcement assisted in the investigation, while the U.S. Postal Service determined the letter came from San Diego, California, Kehoe added.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a roundtable discussion on Antifa with President Donald Trump in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, October 8, 2025, in Washington, DC. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Fingerprints obtained from the letter led investigators to Isbell, according to Kehoe.
“According to the complaint, on or about September 18, Isbell sent a letter from San Diego threatening to harm his victim, a media personality located in Tampa, Florida, and telling his victim that she should ‘be exterminated,'” the Justice Department said in a statement Friday.
“In the letter, he referred to one of the victim’s friends, Mr. Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist who had recently been killed during a public engagement on a college campus. After writing that he hoped the American flag would ‘choke the life out of you,’ the letter went on to state: ‘Maybe someone will blow your head off!!! We can hope for that! Planning public engagements? I love seeing your head explode and your blood stain concrete in red. What a spectacle!'” Judge Department added.
If convicted, Isbell could receive a maximum sentence of five years.
Johnson told Fox News Digital Friday afternoon: “The main question here is: How many of us have to die? And, you know, until people take this seriously?”
Speaking alongside Bondi in Florida, Johnson said: “I don’t want political violence. I want peace in my nation.”
Benny Johnson speaks during a memorial service for murdered conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, September 21, 2025. (Daniel Cole/Reuters)
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“I love this country. I want to be able to debate like Charlie did. I want to be able to raise my family in peace. It’s our birthright. But you can’t make peace with evil as a Christian. You can’t unite with people who want you dead. I want unity in this nation,” he added.
