ICE Director Todd Lyons Reveals Chilling Message Posted About Him the Week Charlie Kirk Was Assassinated – RedState

During the first year of President Trump’s second term, assaults on immigration enforcement officers increased by more than 1,400 percent, thanks in large part to incendiary rhetoric unleashed by Democrats, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

ICE and Border Patrol agents were disgustingly compared to the Gestapo, accused of racism and murder, and were frequent targets of attempted doxxing and vehicular attacks as woketivist agitators worked to obstruct the Trump administration’s mission to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the streets. There were also coordinated assassination attempts against them, all of which fortunately failed.

A Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing was held Thursday on oversight of federal and state immigration enforcement related to operations in Minnesota, which is winding down. Democratic state Attorney General Keith Ellison has repeatedly come under fire from Republican senators who questioned him over his own anti-ICE rhetoric and alleged profiting from fraud scandals.

READ MORE: Josh Hawley lights up MN AG Ellison in wild exchange over fraud scandal

Ron Johnson attacks Smirking MN AG for encouraging violent anti-ICE protesters

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons also testified at the hearing, and in his opening remarks he highlighted how serious the attacks and threats have become:

We are facing the deadliest operating environment in our agency’s history. ICE personnel, not to mention their families, are being subjected to assault like never before in this country. In fiscal year 2025, death threats against ICE personnel increased by more than 8,000 percent. Assaults against our officers have increased by more than 1,400 percent. A Minnesota officer had his finger bitten by a left-wing protester, egged on by elected officials who called our officers the “gestapo” or “secret police.”

Families of ICE personnel do not feel safe in their own homes simply because their loved ones have the courage to enforce the laws passed by this Congress. Notably, those who criticize ICE and encourage this violence against our officers and their families have remained silent in the face of the horrors perpetrated by cartels and human traffickers due to the lack of immigration enforcement under the Biden administration.

I know this reality firsthand. My own family was targeted. But let me send a message to anyone who thinks they can intimidate us: you will fail.

Later, after being asked about threats from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) – who understood the need to wear masks in the face of all threats – Lyons revealed the chilling message posted about him the week TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk was murdered:

“I’m just going to use myself as an example. The week Charlie Kirk was murdered, there was a tweet that went out. It said, ‘kill Charlie Kirk, kill another one,’ there was another individual in there, ‘kill Todd Lyons.’ This is what I see.

Yesterday, after Tuesday’s testimony, I returned to numerous death threats against my family. There was a videotape of my wife walking to work and people were actively posting it. The cartels actually posted the diagrams in my home. ICE agents feel this way every day. We actually conducted an operation with the Secret Service where we identified doxxers who were posting on telephone poles the addresses of homes and schools where ICE officers and agents were going. »

Lyons went on to emphasize that neither he nor the officers wanted to be masked, but that the threats against them were real.

Watch:

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons: “The week Charlie Kirk was murdered, a tweet came out that said, ‘Kill Charlie Kirk…kill Todd Lyons’…There was a videotape of my wife going to work…The cartels actually posted the diagrams at my house.” pic.twitter.com/bdM75MhAda

– Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 12, 2026

It’s simply shameful. I mean, you would expect ICE to be threatened by illegal criminals, cartels, etc. Nor should they have to deal with it by local agitators who have been whipped up by Democratic elected officials and are trying to intimidate the agents — and the Trump administration — into ceasing operations.

Editor’s note: ICE and CBP continue to put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect American sovereignty and keep our streets safe.

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