Man Charged In YouTube Threat To Kill Feds: DOJ

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A man from Oklahoma has been arrested for allegedly threatening on YouTube to murder federal agents and other individuals, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Jan. 21 statement.

The arrested individual, Taylor Ryan Prigmore, 30, is from McLoud.

“On Jan. 17, the FBI received information from Google regarding several threatening statements made by a YouTube user. The YouTube account holder—alleged to be Prigmore—posted several comments on videos between May 9, 2025, and Jan. 17 threatening to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and others,” the department said.

Last week alone, Prigmore allegedly left eight threatening comments in which he expressed a desire to carry out these murders. He also threatened to kill any law enforcement officers who came to his residence, warning he would take the lives of “as many as possible,” the DOJ said.

A criminal complaint filed against Prigmore at the District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on Tuesday listed the threatening comments allegedly made by him.

For instance, on Jan. 17, he allegedly posted: “I’m prepping physically and mentally to kill federal agents. Have you not seen the news of late. The nazi’s are winning over here. WWIII is on it’s way, and a great depression is probably around the corner. Our presidents needs to die to save lives. sex slaves, lynchings, rapes, disappearances and murders, are being perpetrated by ICE. In the open now. I intend to kill these people as law has abandon justice here,” according to the complaint.

On Monday, Prigmore was charged with communicating a threat through interstate commerce and was arrested by the FBI, DOJ said.

Prigmore appeared before a judge the next day, and was ordered detained pending trial. He faces $250,000 in fines and up to five years in prison if found guilty.

FBI Director Kash Patel said there will be “no free passes” for people making threats against men and women who wear the badge and protect communities.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said: “As attacks on law enforcement rise around the country, this Department of Justice will continue to identify and prosecute violent threats against the brave men and women who keep us safe. Hiding behind a screen will not protect you from severe legal consequences.”

The Epoch Times was unable to ascertain whether Prigmore has been assigned legal representation.

Prigmore’s arrest comes amid a spike in threats against federal enforcement officers.

In a Jan. 9 statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that its officers have been facing an 8,000 percent increase in death threats, a 3,200 percent jump in vehicular attacks, and a more than 1,300 percent rise in assaults while doing their work.

On Jan. 15, DHS said ICE arrested an illegal immigrant from Cuba who weaponized his vehicle against federal law enforcement officials, ramming into two ICE vehicles. One officer who was in an ICE vehicle in the front seat suffered injuries.

A day earlier, DHS revealed that an ICE agent was admitted to the hospital after being ambushed and attacked with a shovel by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in Minneapolis.

Immigration Enforcement Oversight

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s federal immigration crackdown efforts have been criticized by Democrats.

On Jan. 15, a group of Democratic senators wrote a letter to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, asking him to conduct oversight of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions.

The DHS has deployed an “unprecedented” number of federal agents across the country, with these officers having engaged in operations involving “excessive use of force,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

The senators cited the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota as an example of the use of excessive force. A phone video of the incident taken by the ICE agent who shot Good shows that when the agent walked in front of the vehicle, Good reversed the vehicle and turned the steering wheel to drive forward.

Vice President JD Vance shared the video on his X account, saying that it shows the agent acted in self-defense.

“Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman,” Vance said. “The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense.”