A Pearl City woman was sentenced Wednesday to three years of supervised release after threatening to kill President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden.
In March 2024, during the Biden administration, Rebecca Ann Folley, then 47 years old and and posting under the name Becca Waters, posted on Facebook a picture containing the message “Going to kill the president,” followed by “INSPECTOR GENERAL, I NEED YOU ASAP.”
The picture appeared to be a screenshot of a comment field on the official White House website; the threat to kill the president had been written in the comment field, under the prompt “What would you like to say?” It is unclear whether Folley actually submitted the comment via the White House website or merely screenshotted a draft message without submitting it.
According to U.S. District Court records, the U.S. Secret Service became aware of Folley’s comment in December of 2024, after the election of President Donald Trump, but before his inauguration. A pair of Secret Service agents met Folley that month at her Pearl City residence.
During an interview with the agents, Folley reportedly told them she was a victim of trafficking but law enforcement would not respond to her reports. In order to provoke a response, she posted “bad trigger words” online as a “cry for help," according to the agents' report.
Folley told the agents she had sent hundreds of such messages since 2022, but received no response, even after posting the White House screenshot on the Facebook page of Gov. Josh Green.
“I started bragging, I was like, ‘I’ve got to be the only person in the United States’ history that’s ever been able to get away with 200 of these things on record,’” Folley reportedly told the agents.
The agents then told Folley to “please don’t do that anymore,” to which she agreed, adding that she was taking medication and receiving mental health treatment.
However, about a week later, Folley herself submitted a tip to the FBI linking to another of her own posted presidential death threats, a Facebook post identical to the previous one. She also posted a new message, warning that, in January 2025, she would “certified mail something VERY VERY VERY special to the field office in Honolulu, the secret service dudes, a enduring gift.”
This went on for months, with Folley sending substantially similar messages to various state agencies, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and the President’s official Facebook account. Her message to the president was direct: “I’M GOING TO KILL DONALD TRUMP.”
In other posts, Folley said she would blow up the White House, and on one occasion commented on a Facebook post by Hawai‘i Rep. Ed Case “Sir, would you mind if I killed you? Just spit balling.”
Secret Service agents once again interviewed Folley in March, whereupon she said she was no longer receiving mental health treatment and acknowledged that her repeated comments were federal crimes.
Court records also indicate that Folley had previously made threats to a family member in 2021, which prompted an FBI response, and was convicted of third-degree assault in Hawai‘i that year as well, for which she served five days in jail.
For her presidential threats, Folley was arrested in April, and she remained incarcerated for seven months. During this period, attorneys discussed Folley’s mental competence to stand trial, with a U.S. District Court Senior Judge Helen Gillmor finding it plausible that Folley was mentally unwell.
The details of a court-ordered mental competency evaluation are restricted from the public. However, the court found her mentally competent in October, and she shortly thereafter pled guilty to making threats against the president, a federal felony carrying a maximum possible sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
However, Folley was sentenced only to seven months in jail — which she has already served — and three years of supervised release. As part of her supervised release terms, she is required to participate in substance abuse and mental health treatment programs, and will have her use of computers strictly monitored.
For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.
