Feds arrest antifa activist in Minnesota, charged with making threats to ICE

The Justice Department announced charges Thursday against a self-described “antifa” agitator in Minnesota, accusing him of encouraging the killings of federal officers carrying out President Trump’s deportation surge.

Kyle Wagner called for “armed and ready” resistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in social media posts to Facebook and Instagram.

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 doxing, 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, showing off a neck tattoo featuring the “three arrows” design popular among antifa adherents.

He was charged in federal court in Michigan, where authorities say his doxing victim lives.

Mr. Wagner was arrested Thursday morning in Minnesota, where he had his first court appearance in the afternoon. He was assigned a public defender.

The Homeland Security Department reported a sharp increase in assaults and threats against personnel as it moves to carry out Mr. Trump’s mass deportation plans.

The department said an increase in rhetoric from politicians and antifa activists has delegitimized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and made it more palatable for some to attack federal officers.

Mr. Trump, in an executive order last year, declared antifa a “domestic terrorist organization” and ordered prosecutions against those who support the movement.

Mr. Wagner’s arrest gives the government a marquee case to pursue.

“This man allegedly doxed 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.

Mr. Wagner said in a recent video that some of his videos inciting violence were taken down. He 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, who was killed during a confrontation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and Alex Pretti, who was killed 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 asked for financial support, suggesting that someone start a GoFundMe account to back his efforts.

Authorities said in one online posting that he shared an address, phone number and birth month and year of someone he declared a “pro-ICE supporter.”

“See you soon kiddo — stay safe out here,” he wrote after sharing the information with his tens of thousands of followers on Instagram.

Mr. Wagner, 37, was charged by criminal complaint in federal court in eastern Michigan. That places the case outside Minnesota, where tensions over ICE are running particularly high.

Prosecutors must seek an indictment to take the case to trial.

A GoFundMe campaign appeared Thursday, sponsored by someone who said they were friends with Mr. Wagner and were raising money for his legal defense.

“Supporting Kyle’s legal defense is not an endorsement of any alleged conduct — it is a commitment to constitutional rights, fairness, and the rule of law,” the campaign said.