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SAT 3 OCT 2026
Newstro
DevelopingSAT., OCT. 3, 2026 • VIDEO REPORT

Three South Alabama Students Arrested Over Alleged Trump Threats

Three University of South Alabama students are charged with threatening President Trump ahead of his visit to their campus in Mobile, AL.com reports.

Based on reporting by Carol Robinson, AL.com

▶ Watch the 2:49 report Read the story
Video thumbnail: Three South Alabama Students Arrested Over Alleged Trump Threats 2:49
3Students charged
SEPT. 29Threats discovered
MONDAYDetention hearings

What happened

Three University of South Alabama students are under arrest, accused of threatening President Trump ahead of his visit to their campus in Mobile on Friday, AL.com reports. Amare Jemal Woods, Cameron Lamark Lewis and Kayla Leaann Smith are charged with threatening the president.

According to court records made public Friday, the alleged threats were made separately on social media and were not linked to each other. They were discovered on Sept. 29 during an intelligence search of social media in anticipation of the president’s visit.

All three were taken into custody Friday. They will be held through the weekend and are due in court Monday for detention hearings.

The University of South Alabama said it “unequivocally condemns any form of threats directed at elected officials or any individual with whom we disagree.” Woods’ attorney described him as a “diminutive kid” who may have been caught up in the vitriol of social media.

Charges are accusations; the students have not been convicted. Newstro does not repeat offensive language from the alleged posts. Photos marked “file photo” are from other dates.

The Newstro report

Read the transcript click a paragraph to jump to it in the video
Newstro graphic of the three students charged and what the FBI says each posted
GRAPHIC: NEWSTRO

The accused

Woods, a freshman aerospace engineering student, posted “he gotta die bro” on TikTok on Sept. 27, in a comment on a post about the president’s planned campus visit, FBI agents said.

Lewis, a biology student and pharmacy technician, is accused of two threatening posts on X on Sept. 26: one referencing Utah Valley University, which AL.com says referred to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and one the FBI said referenced the ambush shooting death of rapper Mikquale Cooper, known as Bloodhound Q50.

Smith, an elementary education student, is accused of replying to a Sept. 29 TikTok post about the president coming to homecoming with “We only got one chance let’s take it,” then posting an image of a person mimicking holding a firearm, according to the FBI.

How it unfolded

  1. Two statements the FBI describes as threatening.

  2. A comment on a post about the president’s planned visit to campus, FBI agents said.

  3. The alleged threats were found during an intelligence search of social media ahead of the visit.

  4. Court records were made public Friday. The university released a statement Friday night.

  5. All three are to be held through the weekend before their court appearances.

Statements

“There is a clear line between exercising free expression and engaging in intimidation or unlawful conduct.”

University of South Alabama

“It’s unfortunate because he’s a very young, very small kid and he’s sitting in federal court.”

Jason Darley, Woods’ attorney

Efforts to reach attorneys for Lewis and Smith were not immediately successful.

AL.com

As reported by AL.com.

The federal courthouse in Mobile, Alabama
FEDERAL COURTHOUSE, MOBILE (FILE PHOTO)

What’s next

All three students are due in court Monday for detention hearings. Woods’ attorney, Jason Darley, said his client is “the furthest away from any defendant I’ve ever represented in federal court in 21 years.”

3Students charged
MONDAYDetention hearings

Sources and credits

Reporting

AL.com — “Three South Alabama college students arrested for Trump threats before Mobile rally” (Carol Robinson, Oct. 2, 2026).

Photos (Wikimedia Commons)

  • Federal courthouse, Mobile — Chris Pruitt (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Graphics and layout: Newstro. The video also uses file photos of the University of South Alabama and Moulton Tower (Tyler Lahti, CC BY-SA 4.0), President Trump (Daniel Torok / White House, public domain), social media apps (mikemacmarketing, CC BY 2.0), FBI headquarters (ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0) and the Mitchell Center (Đ’asil, CC BY-SA 3.0).