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Over time, Holgate escalated his threats: posting violent messages online, calling the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office directly, and targeting everyone from the First Lady to Supreme Court justices.
During one call, Holgate spelled out his intentions plainly: “The president is going to die. I don’t care if it is Trump or Biden. I will hang everyone for treason.”
Despite more than 30 documented threats against the president across multiple states and years, Holgate was released from federal custody in January.
Released, Yet Threats Resumed Almost Immediately
After finishing his sentence, Holgate left a federal halfway house in Portland, only to start sending death threats from his cell phone almost immediately.
“Trump’s gonna fkn pardon me or I’ll kill him!!!!” he texted his probation officer.
Studies from the U.S. Sentencing Commission show that violent offenders are extremely likely to re-offend — nearly 64 percent do — and Holgate’s behavior fit that profile perfectly.
At his 2025 sentencing, medical professionals testified that Holgate struggled with mental illness and delusional thinking. Earlier in his legal battles, he was even found not competent to stand trial. Yet the system certified him for release anyway.
The Dangerous Reality of Halfway House Placement
Holgate’s release timeline is troubling. Convicted in July 2025, moved to a halfway house, and released in January 2026 — within weeks he was threatening the president again.
He repeatedly broke the rules: failing to report to his probation officer, leaving the halfway house without permission, being kicked out for smoking a vape, and texting direct death threats to the officer supervising him.
He made no attempt to hide his intent. The threat was blatant and ongoing.
A magistrate judge found probable cause to hold him, and his next hearing is scheduled for March 26. That is the only good news in this saga.
A Broken System That Keeps Repeating
The bigger problem is systemic. Holgate had convictions in 2018 and 2025, a documented history of delusional thinking, and more than 30 threats against the president — yet he was placed in an unsecured halfway house.
The Secret Service handles dozens of threats to the president every day. The federal system handed them another one by releasing a man who had proven, repeatedly, what he would do the moment he got freedom.
Holgate is back in custody now. But the judge who approved his halfway house placement is still serving on the bench, the same broken federal system remains in place, and somewhere right now, another person like Diedrich Holgate could be walking out of a federal facility toward a phone.
