Two brothers from Absecon, New Jersey, were taken into custody this week after federal and local authorities said the pair posted chilling, violent threats on social media targeting Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin and ICE officers. Officials say the brothers allegedly wrote that McLaughlin should be hanged and even urged followers to “shoot ICE on sight,” prompting a joint SWAT operation and arrests.
Authorities reported that Emilio Roman-Flores faces multiple counts including unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy to make terroristic threats, criminal coercion, threats, and cyber harassment, while his twin Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores was charged with conspiracy to make terroristic threats. Law enforcement also seized firearms and ammunition at the scene, underscoring the lethal danger these online calls to violence represent.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons publicly condemned the threats and warned that anyone who targets our men and women in uniform will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, noting a dramatic spike in threats against immigration officers this year. Lyons and other DHS officials directly tied the surge in threats to the toxic rhetoric coming from radical activists, sanctuary-city politicians, and segments of the media that excuse violence against law enforcement.
Hardworking Americans should not have to tolerate the normalization of violence cloaked as political expression; when partisan elites and activist networks stoke rage against federal officers, real people pay with their safety. This is not abstract theory — it is what led to these arrests, and the response should be swift and unimpeachable: prosecute hard and hold the enablers of this environment accountable.
Meanwhile, legal commentator Jonathan Turley used the moment to remind viewers that political operatives like New York Attorney General Letitia James often weaponize the law selectively, and that there are legitimate lawsuits and allegations that deserve scrutiny instead of partisan protection. Turley has repeatedly highlighted alleged mortgage and conduct issues surrounding James and warned against the expectation that elites should be immune from legal review — a point worth remembering as partisan fever grips coverage of law enforcement and enforcement officials.
There is a larger pattern here: the left’s allies cheer when activists menace federal officers but cry foul when anyone points out hypocrisy or breaks rank. That double standard corrodes public trust and emboldens the fringe actors who respond to permissive rhetoric with bullets and threats, not debate. Jonathan Turley’s broader critique of selective law enforcement and political targeting should make conservatives and fair-minded citizens alike wary of a system that punishes some and excuses others.
Americans who believe in law and order must stand with the DHS employees and ICE agents doing the thankless work of keeping our communities safe, and we must demand that prosecutors pursue these cases to the fullest extent so another would-be murderer thinks twice. If our leaders want to lower the temperature, they should stop fueling it — and instead defend the rule of law, back our officers, and refuse to let violent rhetoric become acceptable political practice.
