South Carolina – A South Carolina teenager has been arrested after allegedly threatening the life of a sitting member of Congress on social media, causing a public confrontation about transgender rights and mental health.
The threat
Taken into jail on Thursday, Samuel Theodore Cain, 19, also known as Roxie Wolfe, is charged with threatening the life of a public official. Records from the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division show Cain’s arrest follows his alleged posting of an explicit threat against Republican Representative Nancy Mace on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The April 26 tweet said the want to “assassinate Representative Nancy Mace with a gun,” and left little ambiguity about the seriousness of the threat.
A federal crime
Soon after the post appeared online, law enforcement officials started looking into it and spoke with Cain on April 30. Cain is reported to have confessed during the interview to creating and publishing the message aimed against the congresswoman. Officials verified the danger was “directly connected to Mace’s public official duties,” so qualifying it as a federal crime.
Political controversy over the arrest fast became a lightning rod. Cain, who is a biological male and identifies as a woman, was publicly singled out by Representative Mace, a vocal critic of transgender rights. Mace took advantage of the event to loudly condemn the transgender population.
🚨BREAKING: Samuel Theodore Cain is first trans activist in country to be arrested for death threats against us, thanks to Capitol Police and SLED.
Roxie was "dead*ss" arrested.
We'll let the photo stand for itself because this individual is obviously unwell in more ways than… pic.twitter.com/u4NOsaCEf3
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 15, 2025
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Speaking to Fox Digital News after Cain’s arrest, Mace said, “I hope they have makeup wipes in prison,” and went on to allege, “Trans activists have been threatening to kill me every day for over six months, ever since I started filing bills to protect women’s spaces.”
Mace didn’t stop there. At Cain’s bond hearing, she read a victim impact statement to the court, describing “men who cross-dress as women” as “mentally ill” and stating, “This is who these people are. And still, not a single Democrat has stood up and said, ‘This is unacceptable.’”
Her remarks further fueled controversy and ignited a wave of backlash and debate online, especially among LGBTQ+ advocates who saw her statements as stigmatizing an entire community.
The context for the heated exchange comes as Mace continues to promote legislation restricting transgender rights. In November, she introduced a resolution to ban members of Congress from using single-sex facilities that don’t align with their biological sex—a move that drew attention as only one member of Congress, Delaware Representative Sarah McBride, identifies as transgender.
On Friday, a judge decided to deny bond for Cain, meaning the suspect will remain in custody as the legal process moves forward. The incident has underscored the ongoing tensions surrounding transgender issues in American politics and highlighted the intersection of social media threats, public safety, and legislative battles. As the case proceeds, it is likely to remain a focal point in debates over freedom of expression, hate speech, and the responsibilities of public figures in a polarized political climate.
