The U.S. Department of Justice has arrested George Russell Isbell Jr., a California resident, for sending a threatening letter to conservative commentator Benny Johnson that fantasized about his assassination. The threat arrived at Johnson's home shortly after the killing of his friend Charlie Kirk. Johnson used the incident to criticize Democrats for mainstreaming political violence.
On September 18, eight days after the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10, Benny Johnson received a disturbing letter at his home in Tennessee, where he lives with his wife Kate and their four young children. The letter, authored by George Russell Isbell Jr., explicitly referenced Kirk's death and called for Johnson's extermination. It stated, “Maybe someone will blow your head off!!! We can hope!” and continued, “Planning any public engagements? Love to see your head explode and your blood stain the concrete red. What a sight!” Isbell, motivated by Johnson's identity as a white, male, Christian Trump supporter, described in detail how Johnson would be killed in an open field, including the blood from his head and neck, and expressed joy at orphaning his children and widowing his wife.
The DOJ arrested and charged Isbell, who faces up to five years in prison. Johnson, who founded TPUSA Productions in 2018 and was close friends with the 31-year-old Kirk, addressed the threat at a press conference on Friday alongside Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi described Johnson as a media personality with a message grounded in faith and love of country, similar to Kirk's, and called the letter's author a coward hiding behind a keyboard.
Johnson linked the threat to broader political rhetoric, pointing to Virginia Democrat attorney general candidate Jay Jones. In uncovered text messages, Jones fantasized about murdering a state GOP leader with “two bullets to the head,” the death of the Republican’s children, and “piss[ing]” on the graves of other state Republicans, referring to them as “little fascists.” Nearly all Democrats have refused to call on Jones to step down. “Violence has been mainstreamed by the Democratic Party,” Johnson said. “It is not ‘extremist,’ it is mainstream. And we need a moment of reckoning, here. This has to stop. This cycle must end. Is any Democrat courageous enough to disavow violence?”
Kate Johnson publicly questioned California Governor Gavin Newsom about disavowing Isbell, a state resident, in a social media post on October 11.