A 38-year-old man from Kenosha, Wisconsin, named Andrew Stanton, has been indicted by federal prosecutors for a series of threatening posts on TikTok that targeted federal law-enforcement agents.
According to the criminal complaint, Stanton allegedly posted multiple videos between August and October in which he specifically called on people to shoot agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). For instance, one video stated, “If ICE shows up to your neighborhood … it’s time we start shooting at you.”
The activities came to light after a tip was submitted in late August to the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center(WSIC) through the Southeast Wisconsin Threat Analysis Center. Investigators traced several of these threatening videos to accounts believed to be operated by Stanton.
In addition to urging violence, one of his videos—posted September 10—allegedly said: “When there are mass shootings, they are successful. … You can apply that to other people. Federal agents.” When federal agents attempted to contact him in early September, the complaint alleges Stanton ignored the outreach. On September 11, a CBP supervisor reached out via text to Stanton; the suspect responded with hostile messages including “Please die. It will help future generations.”
Stanton was arrested last week and pleaded not guilty. He faces federal charges including threatening to assault, kidnap, or murder a U.S. official. If convicted of the full set of charges, he may face decades in prison.
A pretrial conference in his case has been scheduled for December 1, with trial slated for December 15. A federal judge has ordered that he remain in detention pending trial.
His attorney has emphasized that the allegations are just that—allegations—and that Stanton remains presumed innocent.
Source: CNN
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