Michigan man sharing VP JD Vance name jailed over chilling threats to President Trump and Vice President

A Michigan man who shares the same initials, and even the same first name, as the sitting Vice President has been sentenced to federal prison for posting violent threats targeting top US leaders. James Donald Vance Jr., 67, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to threatening to kill President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and one of the President’s children. According to the Department of Justice, the Grand Rapids area man used the alias “Diaperjdv” on the social media platform Bluesky to issue threats against at least four individuals.

Bluesky, the platform where the threats were posted, functions similarly to X or Meta’s Threads.

Federal investigators said Vance made explicit statements indicating he did not care if he was shot by Secret Service agents or spent the rest of his life in prison.


Vance pleaded guilty to two felony charges:

• Threatening to kill or injure the President and Vice President
• Interstate threatening communications

Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The DOJ noted that this is the second case in a month involving threats to kill the President in West Michigan. On Oct. 20, Richard Spring of Comstock Park received an 18-month sentence and a $2,000 fine for threatening to kill President Trump.

US Attorney Timothy VerHey emphasized that such threats have real consequences.

“The advent of the internet gives us all an opportunity to engage in the healthy exchange of ideas that are so important to a democracy. But some would rather use this tool to threaten and intimidate, conduct that causes fear and damages our democratic ideals. When Vance said he planned to kill our President and the Vice President simply because he disagreed with them, he crossed a line we all understand and so had to be punished.”

The DOJ did not address the unusual coincidence between the defendant’s name and that of Vice President JD Vance. While the Vice President now goes by JD Vance, he was born James Donald Bowman, later changed his name to James David Bowman, and eventually adopted Vance, his mother’s maiden name.