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Federal prosecutors announced on January 22, 2026 that a Columbus man, 21‑year‑old Justin Mesael Novoa, has been federally charged after allegedly making violent threats against ICE agents on social media. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the charges include making threatening interstate communications and threatening to assault or murder a federal officer, offenses taken seriously because they target those who enforce our laws. This arrest is a clear reminder that the rule of law must be defended against anyone who uses online rage as a roadmap to real-world violence.
According to the charging documents, investigators traced violent posts on the X platform back to an account linked to Novoa dating to June and November of 2025, where he allegedly urged others to “blast” ICE agents and used inflammatory, violent language. Homeland Security Investigations pursued tips and evidence that showed the rhetoric was not idle talk but part of a pattern of escalating threats. Social media is increasingly the staging ground where enemies of order test the limits of law enforcement patience and public tolerance.
When agents executed a search warrant at Novoa’s residence in December 2025 they found an alarming weapons cache: multiple rifles, shotguns, a handgun, significant quantities of ammunition, helmets and body armor, according to federal authorities. Photos released by prosecutors even showed a political flag in the room near the gear, underscoring how toxic ideology and accessible firepower can be a dangerous mix. This was not idle internet posturing; it was the kind of hardware that turns ugly rhetoric into real danger for officers and civilians alike.
Americans on the right have warned for years that the breakdown of respect for institutions, and the celebration of violence by certain online corners of the left, would produce this exact result. We are seeing a spike in targeted threats against federal agents while the mainstream media and a permissive leftist culture too often normalize or excuse the rhetoric that fuels them. When voices on the left talk about “resistance” without consequences, they create a moral cover for people who move from words to weapons.
The law is crystal clear: threatening federal officers carries heavy penalties, and prosecutors have charged Novoa accordingly to protect officers and deter copycats. Conservatives believe in both civil liberties and public safety; free speech does not include credible threats to murder law enforcement, and those who cross that line should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. If our leaders want to keep the peace, they must stop posturing and start acting to back up the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to keep our communities safe.
It’s worth noting that independent accounts like Libs of TikTok amplified news of the arrest, showing how citizen journalists can expose threats that legacy outlets might shrug off or sanitize. Platforms and watchdogs have a responsibility to surface dangerous rhetoric and to cooperate with law enforcement when speech crosses into criminal threats. Conservatives will keep calling out the double standard: condemnation for harmless words from our side, and hand‑wringing excuses for violent extremists on theirs.
This episode should be a wake‑up call for every American who cares about law and order: violent threats against ICE or any federal agent are attacks on the rule of law and on the safety of everyday citizens. We stand with our federal agents, demand accountability for those who threaten them, and insist that social media platforms stop being a safe harbor for violent radicalism. The choice is simple — uphold the law and protect citizens, or watch disorder spread while elites look the other way.
