PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Local and federal officials arrested twin brothers from South Jersey on Tuesday after authorities said they made online threats to kill a Department of Homeland Security official and ICE agents.
DHS agents and the SWAT team from the Absecon Police Department executed a search warrant Tuesday morning at the known address for Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores.
Investigators tracked them online, where they shared social media posts threatening to hang DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin and “shoot ICE on sight.”
During the execution of the search warrant, authorities found two guns — an assault rifle and a scoped shotgun — along with more than a dozen boxes of ammunition.
Emilio Roman-Flores faces the majority of the charges, including unlawful possession of an assault weapon, prohibited weapons, and conspiracy to make terroristic threats, among other related offenses.
Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores is only charged with conspiracy to make terroristic threats.
In a statement, acting DHS Secretary Todd Lyons called the brothers’ arrest a warning to anyone else threatening violence against ICE agents.
“We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. “We are NOT afraid of you.”
He also said agents have seen an “8,000% increase in death threats against them.”
Both brothers are American citizens. They are currently being held by Absecon police.