A 20-year-old Florida man was arrested and charged with threatening to kill President Donald Trump after allegedly posting a message on social media alongside an image of himself holding a rifle, federal authorities said Monday.
Nick Guadalupe Cruz-Lopez, of Plant City, was charged Friday with making threats against the president, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
Threatening the president is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the Middle District of Florida, the Secret Service received an emergency disclosure from Meta on April 2 regarding an Instagram user identified as "813.cruzz," who allegedly posted, "MAGA Otw to kill trump."
"Otw" is frequently used on social media for "on the way."
The post included an image of the individual holding what authorities described as an AR-15-style rifle while inside a vehicle, the complaint said.
Investigators said Meta, which owns Instagram, also provided location data placing the post near St. Pete Beach, Florida. Automated license plate reader data showed Cruz-Lopez's vehicle, a gray Honda, was in that area earlier the same day, according to the affidavit.
Federal agents traced the account using subscriber information and cellphone data, which led them to Cruz-Lopez's home in Plant City, which is near Tampa. Further open-source research, including a TikTok account, helped confirm his identity, investigators said.
A Secret Service agent wrote in the affidavit that there was probable cause to believe Cruz-Lopez violated federal law prohibiting threats against the president.
Court records showed Cruz-Lopez was released on $250,000 unsecured bail.
Newsmax has contacted Cruz-Lopez's public defender, Laura Hastay, for comment.
The case comes amid a series of recent federal prosecutions involving alleged threats against Trump. Last week, prosecutors in Massachusetts announced charges against another man accused of making online threats targeting the president.
Andrew D. Emerald, 45, of Great Barrington, was indicted by a federal grand jury on eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications. According to the indictment, from May 2025 to July 2025, Emerald made eight separate Facebook posts in which he threatened to harm Trump.
One of the posts stated:
"When I see to it that Trump is put to death. It will be the the day the purpose creation put me here for beyond creating. My daughter is fulfilled. (because what she is destined to do for the world is far greater than mine, taking out the orange menace!)"
Another post stated, in part: "Either Trump is dead and in the ground by 2026 or I am hunting him down and putting him there. Do you hear that FBI and any other organization that wants to show up at my [expletive] door? Put the enemy of the United States in a [expletive] body bag or I will."
The Department of Justice said the charge of interstate transmission of threatening communications carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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