(Article) |
(Archive)
By FOX 2 Staff
|
Published October 2, 2025 1:22pm EDT
The Brief
- A 26-year-old drifter was sentenced for making violent, political threats.
- Isaac Sissel wanted to kill conservative Christians if Trump won the election.
- The government also charged Sissel with a Hate Crimes Motivation enhancement which the Court applied
FOX 2 - A drifter who threatened to kill conservative Christians with an AR-15 known for going town to town and committing crimes was sentenced in federal court.
The backstory:
Isaac Sissel, 26, was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Monday, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon.
According to court documents, in September 2024, Sissel created Reddit accounts with names like "ShootUpTrumpRally" and "PlanningToKillTrump."
On November 2, Sissel sent an anonymous tip to the FBI claiming that he would "carry out an attack against conservative Christian filth in the event Trump wins the election," and said that he had a "stolen AR-15."
Sissel sent his threat two days before President Trump’s campaign rally in Michigan, three days before the 2024 Presidential election.
The threat came four months after President Trump was shot at a campaign rally with an AR-style weapon in Butler, Pennsylvania in which political supporter Corey Comperatore was murdered.
"I shall carry out an attack against conservative Christian filth in the event Trump wins the election," he wrote on Nov.2. "I have a stolen AR15 and a target I refuse to name so I can continue to get away with my plans. Without a specific victim or ability to find the place I hid the gun, there's not a thing the FBI can do until I complete the attack."
Two days after the threat was received, authorities searched Sissel's room at a Travelodge in Canton. Sissel, who does not have a consistent address, was staying in the Ann Arbor and Canton area during election week, and he also had Washington and New York driver's licenses on him.
Sissel said that Trump should have been assassinated, adding that he wouldn't kill the former president, but if he knew someone was going to assassinate him, he wouldn't intervene.
He also said he enjoyed threatening conservative Christians, said he believed left-leaning political groups are not violent enough, said he harassed people at an Ann Arbor rehab clinic he often sleeps near, and said he would stab an officer if they disturbed him at night.
As a convicted felon, Sissel is prohibited from having firearms, but investigators say there is no evidence Sissel actually possessed a weapon, including an AR-15.
In April 2025, Sissel pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce.
Sissel's sentence comes amid a surge of politically motivated violence and attacks on Christians.
Conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk was murdered in a political assassination on Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University.
Other incidents include a June when
an attack at the Wayne CrossPointe Community Church was foiled by security, but other shootings were carried at out the
Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on Sept. 1, and at the
Grand Blanc Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Sunday.
"We live in evil times," U.S. Attorney Gorgon said. "Even in America, Christians are routinely targeted for death by violent extremists like this man. The First Amendment is a safeguard of religious liberty and free speech—and so it does not protect true threats that undermine religious liberty."
The government also charged Sissel with a Hate Crimes Motivation enhancement, meaning that he selected his victims because of their actual or perceived religion.
The Court agreed and applied the enhancement to Sissel’s sentence.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Reuben Coleman of the Detroit FBI Field Office said the 30-month sentence shows the FBI's "zero tolerance" for those who threaten Americans including those at the highest levels of government.
"This effort would not be possible without the crucial assistance of the United States Secret Service, University of Michigan Police Department, and the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in apprehending Mr. Sissel and supporting this investigation," Coleman said. "I send my sincerest appreciation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan for their successful prosecution."
The Source: Information for this report is from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
