Washington — A Minnesota activist was arrested Thursday and charged with threatening to assault and kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Justice Department said.
Prosecutors allege that Kyle Wagner, 37, shared comments and videos to Facebook and Instagram last month that encouraged his followers to attack federal immigration officers, who he called the “gestapo” and “murderers.” He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court on Thursday.
Photos taken Thursday appear to show Wagner being led out of a residential building in Minneapolis by agents with Homeland Security Investigations, part of the Department of Homeland Security, wearing a sweatshirt that says “I’M ANTIFA!” Antifa is short for “anti-fascist” and is a loosely organized left-wing movement or ideology.
Charly TRIBALLEAU /AFP via Getty Images 
In one now-deleted video posted on Jan. 8, Wagner allegedly threatened ICE agents, stating, “we’re f**king coming for you,” according to the Justice Department. The following day, he allegedly encouraged followers to harass immigration officers and said “we should cripple them.”
“Anywhere we have an opportunity to get our hands on them, we need to put our hands on them,” he said, according to prosecutors. Wagner’s social media profiles appear to have been deleted as of Thursday. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney.
Wagner also allegedly pushed others to “hunt” immigration officers and said his goal is to “unmask and identify” the agents. In a social media post on Jan. 13, he allegedly said Minnesota is “where ICE has come to die.”
“We want to know who they are. We will identify every single one of them and we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” he said, according to prosecutors. “If it has to be done at the barrel of a gun, then let us have a little f**king fun.”
Wagner also is accused of promoting violence against ICE officers, including by urging others to “get your f**king guns and stop these f**king people” in a video posted to Facebook on Jan. 24.
The Justice Department accused Wagner of publishing the personal information of an ICE supporter in Michigan and threatening the person.
“This man allegedly doxxed and called for the murder of law enforcement officers, encouraged bloodshed in the streets, and proudly claimed affiliation with the terrorist organization Antifa before going on the run,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Today’s arrest illustrates that you cannot run, you cannot hide, and you cannot evade our federal agents: if you come for law enforcement, the Trump Administration will come for you.”
Protests have broken out in Minnesota in response to Operation Metro Surge, which the Trump administration launched in December to ramp up immigration enforcement efforts in the state. As part of the operation, more than 3,000 immigration agents descended on Minneapolis. The Trump administration said Wednesday that more than 4,000 people in the U.S. illegally were arrested as part of Operation Metro Surge.
White House border czar Tom Homan also announced Wednesday that 700 law enforcement personnel will withdraw from Minnesota, though roughly 2,000 ICE officers will remain in the state. The drawdown comes as immigration agents have come under scrutiny for the tactics they’ve used against protesters in Minneapolis.
Two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by immigration officers last month. The FBI is leading an investigation into the shooting involving Pretti.
