Man faces NC federal indictment for Facebook threat against Trump

A federal grand jury has indicted a 32-year-old Wilmington man on a charge that he threatened President Trump in a Facebook post.

“On or about October 3, 2025, through on or about October 13, 2025, in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the defendant, CHRISTOPHER JAMES HILL, did knowingly and willfully transmit in interstate and foreign commerce a communication, namely, a comment posted on the public website Facebook.com, and the communication contained a threat to kill and injure the person of another, specifically, a threat to kill United States President Donald J. Trump, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(c),” according to the indictment.

The grand jury took action April 23. Hill faced a court hearing May 11. US Attorney Ellis Boyle’ s office publicized the indictment in a news release Monday.

Hill is scheduled for arraignment and trial before US District Judge Louise Flanagan in the federal court term that begins June 16.

The charge against Hill is similar to the high-profile case in North Carolina’s Eastern District involving former FBI Director James Comey.

Comey is scheduled for a June 30 arraignment in New Bern, with a July 15 trial to follow before Flanagan.

Two charges against Comey are based on an Instagram post last year in which he documented sea shells on a beach arranged to spell out “86 47.”

The slang term “86” means “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to,” according to Merriam-Webster.com. Trump is the 47th American president.

Comey appeared in a Virginia federal courthouse on April 29, the day after his indictment.

The indictment alleges that Comey “knowingly and willfully made a threat to take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States.”

While in the “Eastern District of North Carolina,” Comey “publicly posted a photograph on the internet social media site Instagram which depicted seashells arranged in a pattern making out ‘86 47,’ which a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States,” according to the indictment.

A second count charges that Comey “knowingly and willfully did transmit in interstate and foreign commerce a communication that contained a threat to kill the President, Donald J. Trump, specifically.”

“Threatening the life of the President of the United States is a grave violation of our nation’s laws,” US Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a news release. “The grand jury returned an indictment alleging James Comey did just that, at a time when this country has witnessed violent incitement followed by deadly actions against President Trump and other elected officials. The temperature needs to be turned down, and anyone who dials it up and threatens the life of the President will be held accountable.” 

“No one is above the law in the Eastern District of North Carolina,” Boyle said in the release linked to Comey’s case. “Our office regularly pursues threat cases including those against public officials. The Grand Jury examined the evidence in this case and found probable cause to indict Mr. Comey. We will continue to pursue the case as we regularly do every day to protect the people of this District and the United States.”

Comey is charged with threatening the president in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 871(a) and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c). He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted.

The since-deleted social media post prompted a backlash last year. “Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey wrote along with the photo of the arranged sea shells in the sand.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” Comey wrote in a later Instagram post. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

“Man faces NC federal indictment for Facebook threat against Trump” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.