A man with a history of threatening politicians and law enforcement has been arrested by federal agents in New York after offering money to anyone who would kill an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
On July 2, 33-year-old Brandon Ziobrowski of Cambridge, Mass., tweeted that he would give “$500 to anyone who kills an ice [sic] agent.”
“Seriously who else can pledge get in on this let’s make it work,” Ziobrowski added.
Ziobrowski was arrested Thursday morning and charged with one count of use of interstate and foreign commerce to transmit a threat and injure another person, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. The indictment states that Ziobrowski has a habit of threatening federal employees on Twitter. He previously tweeted his desire to “slit” the throat Sen. John McCain, and began posting tweets promoting violence against law enforcement in February; he specifically began targeting ICE in March.
Additionally, FBI Special Agent in Charge Harold Shaw said that Ziobrowski had expressed “extreme anti-U.S.” rhetoric on his Twitter account, and professed support for “socialist” and “communist” ideology. His account was finally suspended in July at the request of law enforcement.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling told reporters at a news conference that Ziobrowski “appears to be very much against ICE and its mission.”
“Feeling strong on this subject is fine. Putting people’s lives in danger, not fine,” Lelling added.
Ziobrowski’s arrest comes after a rash of attacks on ICE agents and law enforcement in general – and Democrat politicians are to blame. People like Bernie Sanders, Kirstin Gillibrand, and Bill de Blasio have issued calls to abolish ICE.
Last month, Reps. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) even introduced legislation to abolish ICE and transfer the agency’s responsibilities elsewhere. When members of Congress – who are supposed to support and enforce our nation’s laws – are demonizing ICE agents simply for doing their job, is it really any surprise that people like Ziobrowski exist?
