A Texas man was arrested for “making terroristic threats” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, the Dallas Homeland Security Investigations arm said Wednesday.
Robert King, a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody in McKinney, Texas after he made the threats, the agency said in a post on X.
“King’s alarming social media posts included intentions to ‘open fire’ if agents are seen in his neighborhood,” the group said in a post with a photo of a man in handcuffs and several officers with their faces blurred.
The arrest comes just days after Noem responded to another online post about the Trump administration and ICE’s work to deport migrants across the country.
In a post on X on Sunday, Noem said “If you threaten or attempt to harm a law enforcement officer we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Another social media user was advising his followers to shoot at ICE members who are arriving in communities in unmarked vehicles and use it as a “self-defense case.” The TikTok video has since been taken down.
The threats and advice to shoot at ICE agents, particularly those who are not wearing a uniform, comes after several students who engaged with pro-Palestinian protests were detained.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and Tufts University Ph.D. student, was arrested by plain-clothes federal officers and taken away in an unmarked van. The security footage from the scene went viral online, sparking outrage as she was in the U.S. on a visa and the agents were not clearly identified.
It’s the latest in the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up deportations across the country.
In a statement to The Hill, a DHS spokesperson reiterated Noem’s post.
“Like Secretary Noem said: If you threaten or attempt to harm a law enforcement officer we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” the spokesperson said. “Promises made, promises kept.”
The Hill has reached out to ICE for more information.