Fro the U.S. Attorney:
SUBURBAN CHICAGO MAN SENTENCED TO A YEAR IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR THREATENING VIOLENCE AGAINST FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES
CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for threatening violence against federal immigration authorities.
On July 7, 2025, MICHAEL D. STOVER posted on the social media application Bluesky,
“I 700% am past that playtime [expletive]. I mean kill the nazi rapist pigs to the absolute last one and kill their friends and families too. No mercy for Nazism in my [expletive] country. Hurt the people and get hunted like a rat until your last desperate minutes, which will be slow if I can help it.”
Stover admitted in a plea declaration that his post contained a threat to injure immigration authorities, and that he posted it knowing that it would be viewed as a threat to injure.
Stover had previously made similar postings advocating violence against government officials, including postings in which he wore face paint and displayed a rifle.
Stover, 34, of Park Forest, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. On Sept. 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins sentenced Stover to a year in federal prison.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Ryan Whalen, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
“Threats of violence cause real harm,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn McCarthy argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “They instill fear, disrupt lives, and undermine society’s sense of security.”
