The Justice Department announced charges Thursday against Kyle Wagner, accusing the self-identified antifa agitator of encouraging the murder of federal officers.
Mr. Wagner, who called for “armed and ready” resistance to ICE in Minnesota, regularly posted videos calling for action to hinder federal immigration enforcement.
Prosecutors said he crossed the line into spurring violence when, in an expletive-laden message, he urged followers to get “guns” and “stop these” people.
He also stands accused of doxxing, or collecting and releasing personal information on opponents to encourage their harassment.
In one of his messages that prosecutors highlighted, he said, “We want to know who they are. We will identify every single one of them and we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. If it has to be done at the barrel of a gun, then let us have a little [expletive] fun.”
Mr. Wagner, who posted on Instagram as kaos.follows, cuts a distinctive figure with a bald head and extensive tattoos, including a bold red RESISTANCE tattoo across his chest and dark tattoos on his cheek. “I’m antifa,” he says as he begins some of his videos.
The arrest gives the administration a marquee case after it declared antifa, a loose affiliation of activists, to be a terrorist organization.
“This man allegedly doxxed and called for the murder of law enforcement officers, encouraged bloodshed in the streets and proudly claimed affiliation with the terrorist organization antifa before going on the run,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in announcing the charges Thursday.
Mr. Wagner, in a recent video, said some of his videos inciting violence were taken down and said he feared further retaliation.
“They’re going to silence me somehow, and they’re having a hard time putting a bullet in my head,” he said in one video.
“I am basically on the run now. I have safe places and I have evacuations planned out, but the way things are going, I’m going to have to be very resourceful,” he said.
Ms. Bondi said he wasn’t resourceful enough.
“Today’s arrest illustrates that you cannot run, you cannot hide, and you cannot evade our federal agents: If you come for law enforcement, the Trump administration will come for you,” she said in a statement.
Mr. Wagner ramped up his activism in the wake of the shooting deaths of Renee Good, killed during a confrontation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and Alex Pretti, slain during an altercation with Customs and Border Protection personnel.
“We can’t end this without good men in the streets, armed and ready to protect innocent people from being gunned down by these masked murderers,” Mr. Wagner said in a video. “I need boots on the ground, and I need them to be prepared to do what needs to be done.”
He also asked for financial support, suggesting someone start a GoFundMe account to back his efforts.
He has been charged in federal district court in Minnesota with cyberstalking and making threats, the DOJ said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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