Texas Man Arrested for Threatening to 'Open Fire' on ICE Agents, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem

A North Texas man is in custody after posting threatening messages on social media aimed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.

Robert King, 35, was arrested in McKinney, Texas, and charged with one count of making terroristic threats causing the impairment or interruption of public services. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced the arrest Wednesday on X.

A DHS spokesperson confirmed to NBC 5 in Dallas that King is a U.S. citizen and said his social media posts included explicit threats to "open fire" on federal agents. One post cited by the agency stated: "If I see ICE agents in my neighborhood, I am opening fire. It's time to stop being [expletive] and put the second amendment to work. ICE are not real cops, they are a secret police force with no real legal authority. Kill them."

In another post, King wrote: "I truly hope, and I mean this with all my heart, that Kristi Noem meets a horrible and agonizing demise... I hope she is ripped apart in a gulag." In the same post, King referred to Noem as a Nazi and called for her to be tried in a war criminal court.

Tarleton State University criminology professor Dr. Alex Del Carmen told the outlet that the allegations suggest that authorities found reason to believe King had both the intent and the means to carry them out:

"If this particular charge or if this claim has been made by the Department of Homeland Security, you know what it basically alludes to is the fact that they must have evidence in place that shows that this person had not only verbal comments that were made against her and against DHS but rather that he had the ability and he had the intent of doing both"

King's arrest comes amid heightened scrutiny of online threats toward federal immigration officials. Days earlier, Secretary Noem responded through her X account to a TikTok video encouraging violence against plainclothes ICE agents by stating, "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:"