Trans Activist Bond Hearing: Nancy Mace’s Prepared Remarks

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What follows are the prepared remarks of U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace during her scheduled appearance in bond court following the arrest of Greenville, S.C. trans activist Samuel Theodore Cain. Cain, 19, was arrested for threatening the life of a public official after posting to the social media platform X that he planned to assassinate Mace.

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Your Honor,

I come before you today not just as a victim, but as a sitting member of the United States House of Representatives who has been the target of a direct and credible threat on her life.

On May 15, 2025, Samuel Theodore Cain was arrested for threatening to murder me. He threatened to shoot me. 

His intention was clear and his intention was violent. 

Under South Carolina law, it is a felony to threaten the life of a public official. The law carries up to a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison for a reason—because these threats are not just words. They’re meant to intimidate, they’re meant to silence, and they’re meant to paralyze public servants who were elected to do a job.

When the threat came in, my staff—who fear for my safety more than I ever let on—called me and begged me to get inside to a secure location. At the time, we didn’t know where this man was. We only knew he was somewhere in the state of South Carolina. 

This meant I was vulnerable. My staff was vulnerable. And my children were vulnerable. 

I had to make immediate changes to my movements, surroundings, and plans because a man I had never met threatened to put a bullet in me.

We had to enlist local law enforcement to patrol my home and my offices.

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As elected officials, we accept public scrutiny. We do not accept terror. The normalization of threats against public servants corrodes democracy from within. It is not just an attack on one individual—it is an attack on the principle of free and fair representation.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had to live under the weight of these threats. I live looking over my shoulder every single day. I’ve received death threats from activists who claim to speak for the so-called “trans movement.” 

I believe the trans movement is radicalized. Its a cult.

Trans people and their supporters fuel violence, particularly toward women who speak the truth and toward elected officials who refuse to be bullied. 

Men who crossdress as women are mentally ill. They are violent toward women. And in a state that doesn’t do nearly enough to protect women, now is the time to show women the state of South Carolina will follow its laws and will protect you. 

This is what is morally right. 

My fear is real. My fear is daily. My fear has real consequences—on my ability to do my job, on my kid’s peace of mind, on the safety of my staff.

Words have consequences. Threats like these are acts of terror meant to shake the foundations of democracy by targeting those who serve it.

I pray that this young man find God who alone can change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. 

I ask the bond be denied or set to the highest possible amount under the law. The defendant should face the full weight of statutory penalties—because letting him walk away sends a message that threats against public officials are just another day without consequence. 

To do otherwise would send a dangerous message: that threatening to kill a member of Congress is a tolerable offense. It is not. It is criminal. And it must be treated as such.

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