Minneapolis man is charged with threatening and cyberstalking ICE
officers
[February 06, 2026]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis man was arrested Thursday on charges of
cyberstalking and threatening to kill or assault Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officers involved in the crackdown in Minnesota.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that Kyle Wagner, 37, of
Minneapolis, was charged by complaint, and that a decision to seek an
indictment, which is necessary to take the case to trial, would be made
soon.
Court records in Detroit, Michigan, where the case was filed, did not
list an attorney who could speak on Wagner's behalf. The complaint was
filed on Tuesday and unsealed Thursday.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi alleged in a statement that Wagner doxed
and threatened law enforcement officers, claimed an affiliation with
antifa and “encouraged bloodshed in the streets.”
And at the White House on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt
held up Weber’s photo at the daily briefing and said such conduct by
“left-wing agitators” won’t go unpunished.
“And if people are illegally obstructing our federal law enforcement
operations, if they are targeting, doxing, harassing and vilifying ICE
agents, they are going to be held accountable like this individual here
who, again, is a self-proclaimed member of antifa. He is a domestic
terrorist, and he will be held accountable in the United States,”
Leavitt told reporters.
President Donald Trump announced in September that he would designate
antifa a “major terrorist organization.” Antifa, short for
“anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant
groups and is not a singular entity. It consists of groups that resist
fascists and neo-Nazis, especially at demonstrations.
When Trump administration border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that
about 700 federal officers deployed to Minnesota would be withdrawn
immediately, he said a larger pullout would occur only after there’s
more cooperation and protesters stop interfering with federal personnel.
According to prosecutors, Wagner repeatedly posted on Facebook and
Instagram encouraging his followers to “forcibly confront, assault,
impede, oppose, and resist federal officers” whom he referred to as the
“gestapo” and “murderers.”
The complaint alleges Wagner posted a video last month that directly
threatened ICE officers with an obscenity-laden rant. “I’ve already bled
for this city, I’ve already fought for this city, this is nothing new,
we’re ready this time," he said, concluding that he was “coming for”
ICE.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a photo of Kyle
Wagner, as she speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press
Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The complaint further alleges that Wagner advocated for physical
confrontation in another post, stating: “Anywhere we have an
opportunity to get our hands on them, we need to put our hands on
them.”
It also details how Wagner used his Instagram account to dox a
person identified only as a “pro-ICE individual” by publishing a
phone number, birth month and year, and address in the Detroit
suburb of Oak Park, Michigan. The complaint says Wagner later
admitted that he doxed the victim’s parents’ house.
Federal prosecutors didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment on why the case was filed in Michigan instead of Minnesota.
The alleged doxing was the only Michigan connection listed in the
complaint.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota has been hit by the
resignations of several prosecutors in recent weeks amid
frustrations with the surge and its handling of the shooting deaths
of two people by government officers. One lawyer, who told a judge
that her job “sucks,” was removed from her post.
Trump’s chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota, Dan Rosen, told a
federal appeals court in a recent filing that his office is facing a
“flood of new litigation” and is struggling to keep up just with
immigration cases, while his division that handles civil cases is
down 50%.
Rosen wrote that his office has canceled other civil enforcement
work “and is operating in a reactive mode.” He also said his
attorneys are “appearing daily for hearings on contempt motions. The
Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and
holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are
continuously working overtime.”
___
Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker and Nathan Ellgren in
Washington contributed.
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