A North Texas man is in custody accused of threatening the head of Homeland Security along with ICE agents. Officials say the posts were made on Facebook shortly before he was arrested in McKinney. NBC 5’s Allie Spillyards has the details.
A North Texas man is in custody, accused of making terroristic threats against the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and ICE agents.
Homeland Security Investigations announced the arrest of Robert King Wednesday, saying he was taken into custody in McKinney after making “alarming” posts to Facebook.
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WATCH HEREA DHS spokesperson said the agency was assisted by agents from Texas DPS, the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office and McKinney Police.
They say King is a U.S. citizen.
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SIGN UP A DHS spokesperson shared one of the posts with NBC 5, in which King threatens bodily harm against Noem and characterizes her as a Nazi.
The agency says in another, King stated intentions to "open fire" if agents were seen in his neighborhood.
"I think this is incredibly serious,” said Tarleton State Criminology professor Dr. Alex Del Carmen.
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Del Carmen said the case is likely built on more than just posts.
"If this particular charge or if this claim has been made by the Department of Homeland Security, you know what it basically alludes to is the fact that they must have evidence in place that shows that this person had not only verbal comments that were made against her and against DHS but rather that he had the ability and he had the intent of doing both,” he said.
Del Carmen said it’s a fine line between expressing free speech and causing harm.
A senior DHS official told NBC 5, “Like Secretary Noem said: If you threaten or attempt to harm a law enforcement officer, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. Promises made, promises kept."
“We don't know what we don't know about people's capabilities, their connections to others. And when something like this pops up and it's on the radar screen and they do some digging and they find out that there may be something more than just somebody expressing their discontent towards a public figure, that's when it becomes alarming and quite honestly if they if they ignore it comes back on them, right?" said Del Carmen.
This is a developing story. Check back and refresh this page for the latest update.
