Federal authorities arrested a 25-year-old Michigan man days before Donald Trump’s historic election victory, after the suspect allegedly posted threats targeting conservative Christians and the former president.
Isaac Sissel of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was taken into custody on November 5, 2024, and charged with sending a threatening communication. The arrest came just two days before Trump secured his unprecedented comeback victory against Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
The investigation began in September when Reddit reported suspicious activity from accounts linked to Sissel’s IP address at the University of Michigan campus. The accounts used names referencing violence against Trump supporters.
On November 2, the FBI National Threat Operations Center received an anonymous online submission that investigators later traced to Sissel. The message threatened violence against conservative Christians if Trump won the election and referenced possessing a stolen AR-15 rifle.
FBI agents located Sissel at a hotel in Canton, Michigan, where he consented to a room search. While no weapons were found in the hotel, Sissel allegedly told investigators he had hidden a firearm stolen from a vehicle.
The arrest came amid heightened tensions nationwide, with authorities responding to multiple election-related threats across several states.
Trump’s victory on November 6 marked a dramatic political resurrection, defying multiple legal challenges to win the presidency. The former president improved his performance in more than 90% of counties compared to 2020, according to early analysis.
Vice President Harris conceded the race in a speech at Howard University on Wednesday, calling for unity and acceptance of the results.
During questioning, Sissel had expressed antipathy toward Trump, calling him dangerous and stating that if someone planned to assassinate the former president, he would consider it his “duty” not to intervene.
Investigators discovered Sissel had previous encounters with law enforcement, including incidents of stalking and harassment. Records showed he had lived in multiple states, including Washington and New York, with no fixed address.
The case is being handled by the FBI’s Detroit Field Office as part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, established in 2021 to address threats against election workers and ensure election security. Sissel appeared in federal court on Tuesday afternoon, with a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday.
