Feds Indict ‘Keyboard Warriors’ After Alleged Instagram Threats to ICE Agent

Federal prosecutors have charged two men for allegedly threatening a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer and his wife on social media, part of what officials describe as a broader pattern of online harassment targeting federal agents.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, a grand jury indicted Frank Andrew Waszut of Tennessee, and Anthony Patrick Noto of New York, on September 23 for knowingly transmitting threats to injure the officer and his spouse.

Prosecutors allege that Waszut posted a video on Instagram identifying the ICE agent and showing photographs of him, saying:

“And he’s an ICE agent. This is him unmasked… So, go ahead and make him famous. And if you see this [expletive] out in public give him the cell block one treatment. You know, catch him when he’s alone”

Authorities said the phrase “cell block one treatment” refers to physical violence against detainees. Noto is accused of commenting on a photo of the officer’s wife, writing: “Anybody wanna test the sights on their new A-R? There’s a pretty good target right there!” Prosecutors said “A-R” refers to a semiautomatic rifle.

Waszut remains in custody in Texas, where he faces unrelated state charges for allegedly making terroristic threats against Republican lawmakers. Noto has been arrested and arraigned in Georgia. Both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg condemned the threats, stating that “federal agents deserve to perform their duties free of harassment from keyboard warriors and other agitators.” He added that anyone who threatens law enforcement officers “will be found, arrested, prosecuted, and held accountable.”

FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown said such threats are “a direct attack on the safety and integrity of our justice system.”

The indictment follows a series of similar incidents allegedly targeting immigration officers. Earlier in September, three women in California and Colorado were charged with conspiracy and doxxing after allegedly following an ICE agent home, livestreaming the pursuit, and posting his address online. The Department of Homeland Security warned that anyone who “doxes or threatens ICE agents will face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.”

The cases come as ICE reportedly plans to expand its social media monitoring operations by hiring nearly 30 private contractors to analyze posts, photos, and online messages and convert them into intelligence, according to internatl documentes reviewed this week by Wired.

The effort would operate from two targeting centers in Vermont and California, part of a broader shift toward integrating artificial intelligence and open-source data into immigration enforcement.