The Michigan man with the initials J.D. and last name Vance was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts, according to a Monday statement from Timothy Ver Hey, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan. The 67-year-old Grand Rapids resident, whose full name is James Donald Vance Jr., admitted to making threats against Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump, as well as one of Trump’s children.
The defendant posted under the name “Diaperjdv” on BlueSky in March and April, expressing extreme hostility toward leaders he disagreed with. “If Trump, Vance, or Musk ever come to my city again, they will leave it in a body bag. I will either be shot by a secret service sniper or spend the rest of my life in prison,” he wrote. “I’ve only got about 10 years of life left anyway so I don’t fking care either way.” He also threatened to murder “that stupid fker” before they receive secret service protection.
Vance later pled guilty to one felony charge of threatening to kill or injure the president and vice president, as well as another felony charge of interstate threatening communications. Each charge carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo, Michigan, imposed a lesser term after he pleaded guilty.
“The advent of the internet gives us all an opportunity to engage in the healthy exchange of ideas that are so important to a democracy. But some would rather use this tool to threaten and intimidate, conduct that causes fear and damages our democratic ideals,” read a statement from Ver Hey. “When Vance said he planned to kill our president and the vice president simply because he disagreed with them, he crossed a line we all understand and so had to be punished.”
