Christian

Sept. 3 (UPI) — Federal authorities on Thursday morning arrested a former Christian podcaster on allegations of issuing threats against President Donald Trump‘s life on social media.

FBI Director Kash Patel posted pictures online of Secret Service agents and other members of law enforcement arresting Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40, of Los Angeles, Calif.

“Deadly threats like this are as vile as they are criminal — those responsible will be met by this FBI and law enforcement,” the FBI director said.

His arrest came a day after a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Southworth with one count each of threats against the president, cyberstalking and harassing telephone calls in interstate communications.

“As threats against President Trump’s life escalate, the Department of Justice will respond with the full force of the law,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

“We will hold perpetrators of violent threats accountable, and anyone who makes these threats online will not be allowed to hide behind their screens.”

The indictment alleges that Southworth, a former host of the pro-LGBTQ rights Christian podcast Yass, Jesus!, issued the threats via social media from January to May.

Federal prosecutors accused Southworth of expressing “his hatred toward President Trump and the President’s supporters” on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, which he allegedly used to encourage the abuse and harassment of, and threaten violence against, the commander in chief.

The court document references one video he posted to Instagram on March 31, criticizing the Supreme Court ruling that talk-based conversion therapy is speech protected by the First Amendment by saying, “I want to practice my free speech as a survivor of conversion therapy of five years: Kill Donald Trump.”

In a second video posted to Instagram on April 8, Southworth is allegedly depicted teleporting into the White House Oval Office behind Trump and raising a knife to the president’s head before cutting to black, after which an advertisement for Southworth’s website appears.

He also allegedly posted a video to his YouTube account following the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in late April when an armed man was arrested while trying to storm the event. In the video, Southworth allegedly states, “I’m outraged that Donald Trump isn’t dead,” according to the indictment.

The federal cyberstalking charge stems from allegations that he posted on TikTok the home address of a former personal lawyer to Trump along with the lawyer’s photo and a photo of the residence. He is also accused of leaving the son of Trump’s former personal lawyer harassing messages and voicemails as well as making what the Justice Department called harassing telephone calls to the lawyer’s wife.

If convicted, Southworth faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison for each charge of threatening Trump’s life and cyberstalking as well as a statutory maximum sentence of two years in federal prison for telephonic harassment.

Southworth was to make his initial court appearance Thursday in Los Angeles.

Vice President JD Vance said in a podcast released Tuesday that if a 2024 assassination attempt had killed Donald Trump, he would have always wondered if it was part of a conspiracy and might not have accepted even another Republican as the next president.

Vance made the statement during a conversation with Christian podcaster Bryce Crawford. The vice president, who recently released a book detailing his own journey to Catholicism, also defended President Trump for posting an image of himself as Jesus and mused about whether artificial intelligence was a sign of the end times.

The conversation kicked off with a discussion of faith and the rush to scientifically explain away events that may be divinely touched. Vance cited the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, during which a bullet nicked Trump’s ear and a supporter was killed.

Trump has long talked about his survival as divinely guided, a theme Vance took up. The vice president said that if the bullet had killed Trump, “we would have had real civil strife in a way that I don’t know that the country could have ever come back from.”

Vance said many Trump supporters would have assumed a conspiracy had robbed them of their chosen president, and he said he would have also had those thoughts “in the back of my mind.”

“I would have assumed very dark forces had taken out Donald Trump, right as he was about to come back into the White House,” Vance said. “There would have just been an illegitimacy to our entire political system.”

Most of the hour-and-ten-minute conversation was an amiable chat about faith, Vance’s own spiritual journey, his Easter meeting with Pope Francis the day before the pontiff’s death last year, and human frailty and fallibility. But it occasionally touched on darker themes.

Crawford asked Vance whether, as vice president, he had ever been in a room that was “spiritually dark.”

“I’ve been in meetings with world leaders where various issues are being discussed, and somebody will say something or somebody will make an observation and I’ll feel some darkness about it, it sets off every spiritual alarm bell in my body,” Vance said. He added he also felt “a very dark spiritual energy” in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, probably because of the carnage at the Civil War battlefield.

Vance cites AI during a discussion about ‘end times’

Crawford also asked Vance about his interest in the “end times,” which the vice president laughingly said had been more of an obsession in youth during the late 1990s, when people were abuzz about the possibility with the coming millennium. A chortling Vance recounted a story of a friend who was obsessed that the world would end in late 2007 and ran up major credit card debt.

“There are, like, things about the world that make me feel, like, not shocked if the Antichrist was walking among us, but, again I try not to focus too much on it,” Vance said. He cited “IT companies” and the use of artificial intelligence as a substitute for human interaction.

“I think that’s kind of satanic,” Crawford said when Vance recounted the story of one acquaintance using AI as a marriage counselor.

“Yeah, when you completely divorce the human from the social element that God made us for, OK that’s very, that’s very bad,” Vance said.

Crawford asked Vance about Trump’s post on social media of an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus earlier this year, which Crawford said offended him. Trump initially contended he thought the image was of him as a doctor, then took down the post amid widespread criticism from even some of his own backers.

Vance defended the president. “He did not mean to, like, mock or mimic God, that’s just not who he is,” Vance said, adding that the president often tries to keep things light and constantly makes jokes. “He’s a bit of a ballbuster, for those of us who work with him, and he just likes to have a good time. And I think that if people appreciated that, they would recognize, he’s not trying to offend people, he’s trying to keep things light.”

Riccardi writes for the Associated Press.

When talking about the Gerhardt brothers, Hudson, a quarterback, and Bailen, a receiver, first-year Village Christian coach Rand Holdren says there’s never a boring moment when the two are together.

“I want to send them off to their room,” he joked about the brothers bickering with each other.

What brothers don’t occasionally raise their voices, and fight over food, gifts and clothes?

In Village Christian’s 34-0 win over Huntington Park last week, Hudson, a senior, completed 11 of 13 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Bailen, a junior, caught four passes for 91 yards and one touchdown. Of course, if Bailen ever drops a pass, big brother might give him a nasty look.

Holdren left Maranatha to take over the Village Christian program.

“The first day of spring practice, we had nine kids,” he said. “I quickly realized why they called me.”

He’s up to 25 players and hoping the Gerhardt brothers will continue to be entertaining in games and in huddles.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Dutch group Christians for Israel is taking the government to court in the Netherlands over its plans to introduce a ban on importing goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

The ban, which was announced in July, is due to take effect on September 22 and will run for three years. It bars importing, buying and selling goods produced in Israeli settlements, as well as intermediary services and any attempt to circumvent the rules.

But the Israel Product Centre (IPC), part of Christians for Israel (CvI), a Dutch evangelical organisation which a recent study found has donated about $300,000 to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, has responded by filing summary proceedings against the state, with the hearing due today.

Here’s what we know about this case.

What is the case about?

The IPC has issued summary proceedings against the Dutch state, seeking to block the July decree.

The IPC argues the measure is “one-sided” and that the window it now has to clear its existing stock – some 20,000 bottles of wine – is too short.

It is also arguing that a national ban conflicts with the European Union’s principle of free movement of goods.

A verdict is not expected for about two weeks.

How has this case come about?

EU rules have long required goods from illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank to be labelled by their origin – Palestine – rather than as “product of Israel”, but the bloc has not placed an outright ban on trading with Israeli settlements. That remains up to individual countries.

In February 2020, the Dutch advocacy group DocP urged consumers to file complaints with the Dutch food safety authority, NVWA, if they found wine and Dead Sea cosmetics had been mislabelled.

Following complaints, the IPC changed its labelling to “product uit een Israelisch dorp in Judea & Samaria [product from an Israeli village in Judea and Samaria],” which it argued accurately reflected the exact geographical and administrative reality of the origins of the products without deceiving the buyer. Judea and Samaria is the biblical name used by the Israeli government to refer to the West Bank. DocP argued this fell short of the requirement to label products correctly, and continued its campaign.

In 2021, the NVWA agreed and fined the IPC 2,100 euros (about $2,500) for mislabelling goods.

Then, in July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible”.

This shifted the legal argument beyond mere consumer labelling, with the court saying countries should take steps to prevent trade or investment relations which help to maintain the unlawful presence of Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territories.

The lower house of the Dutch parliament acted on that in September 2025, proposing an import ban.

The national decree against importing goods from Israeli settlements was made in July this year.

Does Christians for Israel describe the West Bank as ‘Israel’?

CvI describes the West Bank as a “disputed territory” rather than accepting the international legal description of it as “occupied Palestinian territory”.

It says it believes that Israel has strong claims to sovereignty there and that Jews have a right to live there.

The vocabulary matters in a legal sense, as “disputed territory” is not the same as “annexed territory”, therefore, the legal apparatus which would make settlement trade unlawful doesn’t straightforwardly apply.

The group’s stated reasons for funding projects there, it says on its website, are rooted in the Bible; it cites Ezekiel 47:21-23: “Peace for the Jewish people and resident foreigners inheriting alongside the tribes of Israel.”

However, the ICJ’s July 2024 advisory opinion is clear that the Fourth Geneva Convention’s Article 49(6) and successive Security Council resolutions treat the territories as occupied and the settlements as unlawful.

How have other Christian organisations in the West responded to trade with settlements?

Western churches are split on the issue, with CvI sitting at one end of the spectrum.

Mainline Protestants, including the Presbyterian Church in the United States, have divested shareholdings in Caterpillar, HP and Motorola Solutions as early as 2014, and from Israeli bonds in 2024. The United Methodist Church has opposed Israeli settlements since 1996 and sold its Israeli bond holdings last August.

The World Council of Churches called for sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements in 2025, divestment and an arms embargo.

The Vatican calls settlements an obstacle to peace but has avoided divestment so far.

Christian Zionist bodies, however, including Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, send funding for settlements and fight against boycotts.

How significant is this ban?

It is significant considering that the Netherlands is one of only four EU countries currently imposing a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

Trade from illegal settlements to the EU is estimated to be worth up to $400m per year.

The Netherlands is also a big market for the illegal settlements; a recent investigation by legal advocacy group Global Echo, which analysed thousands of shipments from Israeli settlements between 2017 and 2026, shows that within the EU, the Dutch market is the largest importer of goods from illegal settlements, with about 30 percent destined for or passing through the country.

Which European countries have banned products from West Bank settlements?

Spain has banned all imports of products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, since September 2025. The decree also enforces an embargo on defence exports and dual-use technology to Israel, bans ships carrying military fuel for Israel from Spanish ports, and restricts advertising for services or goods linked to Israeli settlements.

Ireland’s parliament approved the text of its Israeli Settlements (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill in May and the bill was signed into law in July. It covers all goods produced in Israeli settlements, but excludes services.

Belgium’s federal government approved a draft royal decree in July introducing a specific regime for goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The precise details of the new law will be determined by the government in due course.

Slovenia imposed restrictions on imports from Israeli settlements under its previous government, but the new conservative government reversed them in June 2026.

The EU as a bloc remains deadlocked over whether a ban counts as foreign policy requiring unanimity or trade policy needing only a qualified majority, with ministers not meeting again in a decision-making format until October.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar last year described the push by some European governments to implement the ICJ advisory opinion as “shameful”.

Which European countries still allow trade with West Bank settlements?

Nearly all of them.

Outside the three European Union states which still have bans in place, settlement goods can be sold legally everywhere, including in most of the EU.

At a July 2026 meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, which addressed trade from Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary were opposed to an EU-wide ban.

Beyond the EU, the United Kingdom does not forbid trade with illegal Israeli settlements, although new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is reportedly considering a ban. In a recent parliamentary briefing, Amnesty International called on the UK government to implement a ban.

It said: “The argument for a UK ban on trade with settlements is clear. The UK government itself accepts it should take stronger action in response to settlement expansion and annexation. The International Court of Justice has directed states not to trade with Israel in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory; and there is precedent in UK law and policy to not trade with illegally occupied lands, ie Crimea and other illegally occupied parts of Ukraine.”

Christian metal band Demon Hunter is suing Netflix, alleging trademark infringement associated with the streamer’s hit film “KPop Demon Hunters.”

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Hyde Lane, the corporate entity for Demon Hunter, against Netflix, Netflix Studios and AEG Presents, the live-entertainment division of AEG, with claims that the defendants have “created a substantial likelihood of confusion” among consumers.

The metalcore band — which was formed in 2000 out of Seattle by brothers Ryan and Don Clark — claims the success of the 2025 urban fantasy flick has “eclipse[d]” the group’s “established identity” and “commercial fate,” especially as plans for a KPop Demon Hunters global concert tour were announced in May in partnership with AEG Presents.

Hyde Lane originally trademarked “Demon Hunter” in 2014 under entertainment, namely live performances. To date, the band has released 12 studio albums and amassed more than 348,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Several of its early music videos, including popular tracks like “Dead Flowers” and “Someone to Hate,” have garnered millions of views on YouTube.

In 2022, the company submitted other trademark protections for recorded music and merchandise.

By comparison, Netflix filed 10 applications under the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “KPop Demon Hunters” for merchandise purposes starting in August 2025.

Hyde Lane has “been forced to surrender control over its commercial identity simply because Defendants have greater resources and a larger marketplace footprint,” the lawsuit states.

In the suit, the plaintiffs cite instances where there has been “consumer confusion.”

On Feb. 26, 2026, someone requested a refund after purchasing $500 tickets to a Demon Hunter show in Albany, N.Y., believing it was for a KPop Demon Hunters concert, according to the suit. “If I dont get it refunded I will not be able to purchase tickets to the actual ‘K pop demon hunters show,’” the email read.

On March 16, 2026, a producer from “Inside Edition” emailed Demon Hunter manager Ryan J. Downey to request an interview with songwriter Yu Han Lee (of KPop Demon Hunters) following the Oscar win for original song, the lawsuit states.

Additionally, the plaintiffs say the Christian band has been incorrectly tagged in connection to various KPop Demon Hunters content.

“Due to Defendants’ wrongful actions, Demon Hunter’s established identity is becoming increasingly obscured within recorded music, live touring and merchandise-related channels due to overlapping use by the KPop Demon Hunters brand,” the lawsuit states.

Hyde Lane is requesting Netflix and Netflix Studios be held liable for infringement, although no specified amount was listed in the suit.

The complaint arrives a year after the 2025 animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters” — which centered on Huntrix, a music trio who hunt demons — reached unprecedented heights, becoming Netflix’s most-watched animated original movie. Earlier this year, the film’s focus track, “Golden,” became the first K-pop song to win an Oscar.

Plans for the “KPop Demon Hunters” sequel are already underway as the lawsuit makes its way through the California court system.