Trans-identifying Washington man charged with threatening to kill President Trump

20-year-old Phillip Richard Wharton, who goes by the name Sadie, was indicted on Wednesday on charges of threatening a federal official. According to court documents, Wharton made multiple social media posts in August and September of 2025, threatening to kill the president.

One post on August 19, 2025, included a photo and read, “What the guy in the White House sees after I kill the US PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN AND WEAR HIS FACE AS A MASK.” A September 23 post read, “My name is Sadie Online. I am going to kill the president tomorrow. This is not a joke, but a confession admissible in a court of law.”

A criminal complaint revealed that the US Capitol Police alerted the Secret Service after the first post. Investigators later linked the account to Wharton.

On Sept. 8, Secret Service agents went to an address in Everett associated with Wharton and spoke with his father. According to the complaint, his father called his son, and Wharton began laughing as they argued on the phone, according to King 5.

The complaint says Wharton told agents he made the posts because he believed Trump was involved in the sex trafficking of two 14-year-olds, referencing Jeffrey Epstein. Just weeks later, he posted the second threat.

Images from Wharton’s social media from October also showed him holding a firearm. A complaint was filed in November charging him with two counts of threatening a federal official, and an arrest warrant was issued the same day.