By Shaun Chornobroff
SCDailyGazette.com
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace thanked a judge Friday for denying bond to a Greenville transgender woman accused of threatening her life, saying she and her children live in constant fear.
“My kids live in fear of being killed. … They live in fear of their mom being shot,” Mace told reporters after the bond hearing in Greenville. “I live with that fear every day as well.”
Magistrate James Hudson denied bond to Roxie Wolfe, who is charged and booked as Samuel Theodore Cain, after Mace read a statement to the judge about feeling terrorized by transgender activists. The mother of two teenagers asked the judge to provide them “peace of mind” and show that South Carolina “will protect women.”
“I believe the trans movement is radicalized. It’s a cult,” Mace told Hudson, reading from her phone.
The congresswoman, who is mulling a run for governor next year, has fostered a reputation as a staunch opponent to the transgender rights movement — what she called “the so-called trans movement” — and has repeatedly used language considered slurs.
She went on to tell the judge she believes transgender people are “mentally ill” and violent.
“As a public official we accept public scrutiny. We do not accept terror,” Mace said.
Hudson then denied bond, telling the defendant, “I do believe you are a credible threat.”
The accused 19-year-old Greenville resident asked to speak during the brief hearing, but the judge advised against it.
“We’re not here to discuss the situation or for you to defend yourself,” Hudson said.
Wolfe did not have an attorney. Hudson told the 19-year-old to fill out paperwork and let the court know if a public defender is needed.
The accused could receive bond at another hearing before a Circuit Court judge, though when is not yet known. A condition of bond will be a ban on contacting Mace in any way, Hudson said.
Wolfe was arrested Thursday for an April 26 post on X threatening to “assassinate” Mace with a gun, according to an arrest warrant from the State Law Enforcement Division.
Four days after the post, the 19-year-old admitted to federal authorities to authoring and posting the threat, the warrant said.
While the arrest warrant says Wolfe is a white male, the Greenville resident has identified on social media as a transgender woman, using she/her pronouns.
The maximum penalty in South Carolina for threatening the life of a public official is a $5,000 fine and five years in prison.
Wolfe is the first person charged in South Carolina with threatening Mace, but the congresswoman has publicly talked about other death threats. Last month, she said she was among the named targets of a Pennsylvania man who posted online as “Mr. Satan” as he threatened to kill President Donald Trump and “anyone who stands in the way.”
She has also cited safety concerns in explaining why she hasn’t held an in-person town hall this year.
Mace, who represents the coastal 1st District, said she didn’t know when she learned about the April 26 post on X where the possible gunman lived and had to make immediate changes to her plans.
As she stood in the hearing Friday, she told reporters afterward, “all I could think about was his family” and her children. As a mom, she said, “it was heartbreaking to watch, to see this young man and what he’s made his life out to be.”
“This is a serious charge. There should be serious consequences,” Mace told reporters. “It’s a serious matter. It’s also illegal. It’s a crime. Nobody, whether they’re elected or not, should live in fear anywhere in the country.”
Shaun Chornobroff covers the state legislature for the S.C. Daily Gazette, a part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
