Two New Jersey brothers were arrested Tuesday on charges tied to violent threats against a top Homeland Security official, including alleged online vows to “shoot ICE agents on sight.” One of the brothers was also hit with multiple weapons charges.
The arrests come as Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports an eye-popping surge in threats against its personnel, with DHS citing an 8,000% increase as agents carry out President Donald Trump’s push to deport what the administration calls the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants.
Authorities say twins Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores of Absecon, near Atlantic City, targeted Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s top public-facing deputy, in a series of alleged posts on X. Prosecutors allege the brothers called for McLaughlin to be tortured and killed in medieval-style fashion.
“[The Second] Amendment is in place for moments like this. Shoot ICE on sight,” one of the brothers allegedly wrote in a partially redacted reply to a McLaughlin post.
The same post continued: “We Americans should find you, tar you, feather you, and hang you as we did to anyone serving tyrants before the Revolutionary War.”
A second partially redacted post, attributed to the other brother, read: “Shoot ICE on sight.”
Tricia McLaughlin (DHS)
McLaughlin has been a constant presence on national television during DHS immigration enforcement operations and is widely seen as Secretary Kristi Noem’s top spokesperson. She has forcefully defended ICE agents and their missions, recently calling threats against federal officers “despicable” and warning that attacks are fueled by what she has described as violent rhetoric from Democrats and the political left.
She has also taken aim at sanctuary-city leaders, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has publicly opposed DHS operations in his city.
ICE Director Todd Lyons said the arrests, which came within three days of the alleged threats, send a clear message.
“We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We are not afraid of you,” Lyons told Fox News Digital.
Lyons added that, as McLaughlin has warned, “extreme rhetoric” from media figures, sanctuary-city politicians and left-wing activists creates the conditions for threats and violence against federal officers.
“If you threaten our law enforcement or DHS officials, we will hunt you down, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Both suspects are U.S. citizens. Emilio Roman-Flores was charged with unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy, terroristic threats, criminal coercion, and cyber harassment. His brother, Ricardo Roman-Flores, was charged with one count of conspiracy to make terroristic threats.
DHS credited the Absecon Police Department and its SWAT team for safely taking the brothers into custody after executing a search-and-arrest warrant in the Atlantic County community.
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