New Jersey twins charged in threats to kill DHS official, ‘shoot ICE on sight’
EXCLUSIVE: Two New Jersey brothers were arrested Tuesday on charges tied to terroristic threats against DHS chief Kristi Noem’s top public-facing deputy, including alleged vows to "shoot ICE agents on sight." One brother also faces unlawful weapons-possession charges.
The harrowing allegations come amid a reported 8,000% increase in death threats against Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel. The alleged targeting of Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin presented a new danger for those working to realize President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of the "worst of the worst" illegal immigrant criminals.
Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores, twins from Absecon, New Jersey, next to Atlantic City; were arrested after allegedly posting to X that they wanted to torture and kill McLaughlin in a medieval fashion.
"[The Second] Amendment is in place for moments like this. Shoot ICE on sight," one of the brothers allegedly tweeted in a partially redacted response to a McLaughlin message:
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"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 tweet, reportedly from the other brother, read: "Shoot ICE on sight."
McLaughlin has been front-and-center on broadcast media throughout DHS’ immigration enforcement missions.
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Seen as Noem’s top representative in the press, McLaughlin has not been shy about defending her agency, recently lambasting those like the Absecon brothers who allegedly threaten ICE agents as "despicable" and repeating that attacks on federal officers are a direct result of violent rhetoric from Democrats and the political left.
She has also criticized far-left city leaders like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has stood up against DHS operations.
ICE Director Todd Lyons told Fox News Digital the swift arrests — within three days of the alleged threats — serve as a warning:
"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 added, as McLaughlin previously said, that "extreme rhetoric" from the press, sanctuary-city politicians and left-wing activists are the direct precursor to these situations.
"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."
The two suspects are American citizens. Emilio was charged with unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy, terroristic threats, criminal coercion and cyber harassment.
His brother, Ricardo, was charged with one count of conspiracy-terroristic threats.
DHS credited the Absecon Police Department and its SWAT team for successfully taking the brothers into custody after they executed a search-and-arrest warrant in the Atlantic County community.