Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Department of Justice announced that that its Civil Rights Division will immediately close an “environmental justice” matter. Effective immediately, the division will terminate the environmental justice settlement agreement that stemmed from the investigation launched by the previous administration targeting Lowndes County, Alabama.

This directive follows President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” which forbids federal agencies from pursuing programs or initiatives related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, including those related to “environmental justice.”

“The DOJ will no longer push ‘environmental justice’ as viewed through a distorting, DEI lens,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “President Trump made it clear: Americans deserve a government committed to serving every individual with dignity and respect, and to expending taxpayer resources in accordance with the national interest, not arbitrary criteria.”

Today’s closure is another step this Administration has taken to eradicate illegal DEI preferences and environmental justice across the government and in the private sector. The Department is working quickly to close such cases in compliance with the Attorney General’s directive.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Shawn Monper, 32, a resident of Butler, Pennsylvania, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with making threats to assault and murder President Donald J. Trump, other U.S. officials, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

“I want to applaud the outstanding and courageous investigative work of the FBI and the Butler Township Police Department, who thankfully identified and apprehended this individual before he could carry out his threats against President Trump’s life and the lives of other innocent Americans,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Rest assured that whenever and wherever threats of assassination or mass violence occur, this Department of Justice will find, arrest, and prosecute the suspect to the fullest extent of the law and seek the maximum appropriate punishment.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti for the Western District of Pennsylvania joined Attorney General Bondi in making today’s announcement.

According to the federal criminal complaint, on April 8, the FBI National Threat Operations Section (NTOS) received an emergency disclosure regarding threats posted to YouTube by user “Mr Satan.” Federal agents determined that the threatening statements occurred between Jan 15 April 5. The subsequent federal investigation affirmed that the internet activity associated with “Mr Satan” corresponded with Monper’s residence.

The investigation further established that Monper sought and obtained a firearms permit shortly following President Trump’s inauguration. In February 2025, Monper commented using his “Mr Satan” account: “I have bought several guns and been stocking up on ammo since Trump got in office.” Further, in March 2025, Monper commented using his account: “Eventually im going to do a mass shooting.” One week later, Monper commented: “I have been buying 1 gun a month since the election, body armor, and ammo.”

The criminal complaint identified the following threatening statements regarding President Trump, other United States officials, and ICE agents:

February 17, 2025: “Nah, we just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon, all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way. Remember, we are the majority, MAGA is a minority of the country, and by the time its time to make the move, they will be weakened, many will be crushed by these policies, and they will want revenge too. American Revolution 2.0”

March 4, 2025: “im going to assassinate him myself.” This threat was made in a YouTube video titled “Live: Trump’s address to Congress.”

March 18, 2025: “ICE are terrorist people, we need to start killing them.”

April 1, 2025: “If I see an armed ice agent, I will consider it a domestic terrorist, and an active shooter and open fire on them.”

On April 9, the FBI, with the assistance of the Butler Township Police Department, arrested Monper on the federal criminal complaint. On April 10, Monper was ordered detained pending preliminary and detention hearings scheduled for April 14, at 1:00 pm.

The FBI and Butler Township Police Department are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

WASHINGTON—Today, the Justice Department announced that it has acted to end the state of Illinois’ unlawful minority-only scholarship program.  After the Justice Department threatened to file suit, the state and six universities suspended the program.

On March 31, 2025, the Justice Department found that an Illinois scholarship program unconstitutionally discriminated on the basis of race in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellow of Harvard Coll., 600 U.S. 181 (2023), colleges and universities are prohibited from using race to select winners and losers in higher education. The scholarship program established by Illinois law used race as a prerequisite for participation, specifically excluding students of some races but not others in violation of federal law.

After the Justice Department notified the educational institutions of its findings, multiple universities informed the Justice Department that they had ended their participation in the program, including Northwestern University, Loyola University of Chicago, and the University of Chicago.  None of the institutions that the Department notified of its findings is currently electing to continue its participation in the program.

Additionally, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, which administers the state-created DEI scholarship program, responded to the Department’s threatened lawsuit by suspending all its activities relating to the program until it can comprehensively review the program with the Illinois General Assembly during the current legislative session.   

“This Department of Justice is committed to rooting DEI out of American institutions, including in the education system,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This latest victory illustrates that the threat of legal action can be enough to force bad actors into dissolving harmful practices that disregard merit and divide Americans based on race.”

To learn more about the Civil Rights Division visit www.justice.gov/crt, and to report possible violations of federal civil rights laws go to www.civilrights.justice.gov or call toll-free at 800-253-3931.