Left: Donald Trump speaks at the annual Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, in June 2024 (Allison Bailey/NurPhoto via AP). Right: Douglas Thrams (St. Joseph County Police Department).
An Indiana resident has been sentenced following his threats against former President Donald Trump, coupled with incendiary messages on TikTok urging individuals to abandon protests in favor of armed action for “real change.” Court documents reveal these developments.
Douglas Thrams, 23, received his sentence on Thursday, comprising time already served and an additional two years under supervised release. Thrams had previously spent 10 months in detention for these threats. U.S. District Judge Cristal Brisco, appointed by President Joe Biden, issued the sentence, aligning with the recommendations from both the Department of Justice and Thrams’ public defender.
According to federal prosecutors, in January 2025, Thrams uploaded a series of alarming videos to his TikTok account. These videos, documented in a sentencing memorandum last month, contained explicit calls to action. In one video, Thrams urged viewers to exercise their “Second Amendment” rights by targeting “local government buildings” with their “weapons,” advocating that this was the only viable path forward.
Another video depicted Thrams tapping an airsoft rifle while encouraging individuals to “show up” and utilize their rights, claiming that violence was the sole means to effect change. His message was clear: “Stop talking about it and actually be about it,” he declared, urging people to cease protests and instead wield their rights and weapons.
These videos were swiftly removed by TikTok and flagged by local authorities in Indiana, who notified the FBI. This collaboration led to Thrams’ arrest and subsequent booking in St. Joseph County on charges of threatening a president. Thrams pleaded guilty to these charges in August, culminating in his recent sentencing.
The clips were removed by TikTok and flagged by authorities in Indiana, who alerted FBI agents and helped track Thrams down. He was arrested and booked in St. Joseph County on a charge of making threats against a president. He pleaded guilty in August.
“We the people need to band together and use our rights, amendments, and constitutes and take our weapons that are a part of our Second Amendment right to bear arms and either instill the fear of God in the government or use those right to outright just overthrow the government and institute a new one,” Thrams said in another TikTok post, according to the DOJ’s federal complaint.
Referencing Trump, Thrams stated, “He needs to be assassinated and this time, don’t f—ing miss,” according to the complaint.
“I am down for the cause. I am down to mow the lawn. I’m down to paint the town red,” Thrams also stated in another video.
Thrams additionally made references to “encourage people” to go to their local government buildings and “not go to the Capitol Building like they did for January 6th,” the complaint says. “You tell me where to point that godd— weapon and we can go Nazi hunting,” Thrams vowed.
The young man added, “It is in our Declaration of Independence that if we see fit, we the people see fit, that we are being controlled by a tyrannical government, or just an evil one, that we are legally allowed to use our rights, laws, amendments, and constitutes to take control of said government, possibly even enforce a new one if need be. So yes, I’m down for the cause. Like I said, I’m down to paint the town red … Just tell me where to go.”
