Former SC nuclear inspector who allegedly threatened Trump, Biden unfit for trial

A former nuclear inspector at the V.C. Summer nuclear construction site in Fairfield County has been found mentally unfit to stand trial for allegedly threatening on social media to kill President Donald Trump, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Travis Lang, who lived in Irmo and who also allegedly threatened former President Joe Biden, is “mentally incompetent to the extent he is currently unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense,” U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie of Columbia ruled.

In mid-May, Currie had ordered Lang to undergo a mental exam.

“Although Lang has a good factual understanding of the legal system, his reasoning is impaired when applied to his own case,” Currie wrote in her seven-page opinion, filed in federal court.

Currie ordered that Lang, who is in his late 40s, be held for up to four more months in a secure facility chosen by the U.S. Justice Department to see if his mental situation improves.

Lang was indicted in March for allegedly threatening on Facebook Messenger to kill Trump the previous month. He was indicted a second time in May for allegedly threatening on Twitter to kill then-President Biden in 2021.

Lang has been in custody since he was first indicted.

The purpose of holding Lang for four more months of evaluation is “to determine whether there is a substantial probability that in the foreseeable future, he will attain the capacity to permit the proceedings to go forward,” Currie wrote.

Currie wrote her order after a Wednesday hearing in which she heard from forensic psychologist Dr. Lauren Schumacher, who had evaluated Lang. She practices at the Miami Federal Detention Center and was present by video conference at Wednesday’s hearing.

According to documents filed in Richland County Family Court, Lang had a job at the defunct V.C. Summer nuclear plant construction project making more than $100,000 a year.

Lang worked as a nuclear inspector at the project, according to an affidavit, until construction was shut down in July 2017 in the midst of ongoing construction delays and cost overruns.

Lang was one of the several thousand employees thrown out of work on the failed multibillion dollar project. Since then he has been unemployed except for sporadic part-time work for DoorDash. Lang has also made numerous other threats to public officials, according to evidence in the case.

Lang filed to run for president as a Republican in 2024, according to Federal Election Commission records. However, he was not a serious candidate in terms of money raised or name recognition.

He was not, for example, on the ballot for the South Carolina Republican Primary in February 2024 won by Trump.

Lang contributed $6,000 to his 2024 presidential campaign committee and only has $3,506 left, according to FEC records.

The penalty for threatening the president is up to five years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Matthews is prosecuting the case and federal public defender Jeremy Thompson represents Lang. The Secret Service, which protects the lives of the president, the vice president and others, is investigating the case.

This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 5:30 AM.