Bond denied for 19-year-old trans activist accused of threatening Rep. Nancy Mace; congresswoman speaks out in court.

Judge Denies Bond Amid Safety Concerns

South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace traveled from Washington, D.C., to deliver a victim impact statement on Friday, as a judge denied bond for 19-year-old Samuel Theodore Cain, who is accused of making graphic threats to assassinate the congresswoman and her children.

Cain, who identifies as transgender and uses the name Roxie Wolfe online, was arrested on May 15. During the hearing, the judge cited the severity and credibility of the threats, stating, “Mr. Cain, I do believe that you are a credible threat, and I’m going to put you in on a no bond.” Cain was ordered to have no contact with the victim.

Standing in court, Mace told the judge, “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.” She detailed the changes she and her family were forced to make, including seeking shelter and requesting increased law enforcement protection.

“My staff was vulnerable. My children were vulnerable,” she said. “Threats like these are acts of terror meant to shake the foundations of democracy.”

Personal Reflections and a Call for Accountability

After the hearing, Mace shared emotional reactions with reporters outside the courthouse. She described seeing Cain in person for the first time and noted, “This guy was well over 6 feet, over 200 pounds. I’m 5-foot-6, 115 pounds. He’s twice my size. It was scary.”

In a symbolic gesture, Mace approached Cain’s family and shook hands with his father. “I shook the hand of a father whose son threatened to kill me, not out of forgiveness, but out of grace,” she later wrote. She added, “Strength is about standing your ground and we can be humble with humanity.”

Mace thanked the Cain family publicly and acknowledged their presence in court. “As a mom, it meant something to see them show up. We’re all human. But threats like this have to come with consequences,” she said.

According to Mace, the threats were discovered by Capitol Police and were so serious that law enforcement urged her to relocate immediately. “This was serious. Nobody knew where he was. Law enforcement told me to go inside immediately. That’s how real it was,” she explained.

She noted that this was not an isolated incident. “This is the second person this year. But I receive death threats from trans activists and trans people every single day,” she said, expressing frustration that no U.S. attorneys in South Carolina or elsewhere have prosecuted such cases.

Mace warned that inaction could lead to tragedy: “One day, someone’s going to pull the trigger. Someone’s going to get a bullet. Someone’s going to die.”

She also criticized what she described as a broader culture of silence and tolerance of political violence. “This case isn’t just about one man’s threats. It’s about a culture that tolerates violence against elected officials, especially women who speak up,” she said. “We do not accept terror. The normalization of threats against public servants corrodes democracy from within.”

Concluding her courtroom remarks, Mace said, “Letting him walk away sends the message that threatening to kill a member of Congress is just another day without consequence. It is not. It is criminal. And it must be treated as such.”