20-year-old Everett man indicted after threatening to kill the president on social media

An Everett man was indicted by a federal grand jury for threatening to kill the president in several social media posts.

Phillip Richard Wharton, 20, was charged with two counts of threatening a federal official in the Western District of Washington.

According to charging documents obtained by KING 5, the first social media post from Wharton threatening the president happened on August 19, 2025, stating, “What the guy in the White House sees after I kill the US PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN [sic] AND WEAR HIS FACE AS A MASK” alongside a photograph of the user’s face.

The U.S. Capitol Police alerted the U.S. Secret Service that same day. Wharton made another post on August 19, 2025, writing, “WHEN I TWEET THAT ILL ASSASSINATE THE US PRESIDENT THEY DELETE IT.”

Federal agents identified Wharton through an Instagram account with the same username and identifying details. Agents then matched his social media photos to his Washington State Department of Licensing photo, which revealed Wharton’s address in Everett.

After meeting separately with Warton and his father, Warton agreed to stop posting threats on social media following a warning. According to KING 5, Warton stated that the threats came out of frustration over his belief that President Donald Trump is involved with Jeffrey Epstein.

But, on September 23, 2025, Wharton posted more threats, this time behind the account “@saydieonline” saying, “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,” leading to his arrest.