Federal law enforcement officials arrested a Texas man after he allegedly threatened to harm deportation officers and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem herself.
Robert King, a U.S. citizen living in north Texas, was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations, a law enforcement division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency announced Wednesday. Federal officials say King had made a number of alarming posts on social media, including a threat to “open fire” against any ICE agents spotted in his neighborhood and other threatening posts against Noem.
“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,” a senior DHS official stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Promises made, promises kept,” the official continued.
The arrest follows a period of vandalism and other violent acts across the U.S., ostensibly directed at the Trump administration.
There are believed to be at least 80 reported cases of vandalism or arson attacks against Tesla properties, a company which is lead by Elon Musk, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump. Such Tesla attacks have included shot out windows, Molotov cocktails, torched charging stations, incendiary devices, “Nazi” spray-painted on cars and other incidents — prompting federal law enforcement officials to establish a task force to crack down on the matter.
Increasingly aggressive student demonstrations against government policy — which have allegedly included the occupation of university property and the harassment of Jewish students — have also been addressed by the administration. The State Department has revoked the visas of roughly 300 foreign students who allegedly participated in pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic demonstrations.
As the Trump administration continues to prioritize the detainment and deportation of illegal migrants across the U.S., a number of White House opponents have openly teased interference.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, walked back his statements after previously suggesting in November that he would deploy the Denver Police Department to the county lines to stop ICE agents from entering his city’s jurisdiction. New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a major critic of immigration enforcement, asked the Department of Justice in February if she was being investigated after her office hosted a webinar meant to coach illegal migrants how to avoid ICE arrest.
Border czar Tom Homan, who is leading the administration’s deportation efforts, has made it clear that blatant instances of obstruction against his ICE agents will result in referral for prosecution.
Noem has previously declared that overt threats against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated.
“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 secretary said in March, responding to a Tik Tok video calling for viewers to shoot at ICE agents “on sight.”
In one of the social media posts allegedly made by King, he threatened bodily harm against Noem and characterized her as a Nazi, according to NBC 5.
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