United States Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday announced criminal charges against a 69-year-old man living in San Diego who is accused of sending a threatening letter in the mail to conservative influencer Benny Johnson.
Bondi shared at a press conference held in Florida that George Russell Isbell Jr. was arrested after the United States Postal Service helped trace the letter and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents found his fingerprints on it.
According to the Department of Justice, the letter said Johnson needed to be “exterminated” and included other graphic notes about him being killed. Johnson stood next to Bondi for the press conference and said, “This individual described orphaning my four beautiful children and widowing my wife with great joy.”
Bondi said Isbell was arrested in San Diego on Friday morning, however, the DOJ press release said he was taken into custody days earlier on Oct. 7. NBC 7 reached out to the FBI San Diego spokesperson who confirmed they were the arresting agency but could not clarify the timeline because the government shutdown limits their ability to respond to media requests.
NBC 7 learned Isbell lived in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego and spoke to one of his neighbors, Gregory Stern.
“He lived alone, as far as I could tell,” Stern said. “The guy, ever since he moved in, he hasn’t made friends. We never saw him much outside. We saw him, like, loading, unloading cars, groceries.”
Stern said Isbell never put any political signs or flags on his house and that it was a relatively quiet street until this week. Stern said he watched law enforcement swarm around the home on Wednesday night.
“There was like cops or federal enforcement everywhere. Then I saw them entering the house, knocking on the door, ‘FBI, open up,’ and they all had their guns drawn,” Stern recalled.
Stern said he did not think Isbell was home and did not see anyone come out of the home in handcuffs.
“I didn’t see them take anything out of the house. I didn’t see anybody get taken out of the house because I was under the impression he was already in jail,” Stern added.
NBC 7 reached out to the United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida spokesperson for a copy of the complaint but received an automatic email response that read, “Due to a lapse in appropriations, USAO-MDFL Public Affairs operations are limited. Normal press announcements and responses to media inquiries will resume once the lapse in federal appropriations has ended.”
If convicted, Isbell could face up to five years in prison.