A federal law enforcement agency has charged a 20-year-old man from Plant City, Florida, with threatening to kill President Donald Trump after he allegedly posted an Instagram message showing himself holding a rifle. Authorities reported the incident Monday.
Nick Guadalupe Cruz-Lopez was arrested and charged Friday with making threats against the president under federal law, which carries penalties of 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.” The user posted: “MAGA Otw to kill trump,” with “Otw” being commonly used online for “on the way.”
The post included an image of the individual holding what authorities described as an AR-15-style rifle inside a vehicle. Meta also provided location data placing the post near St. Pete Beach, Florida.
Automated license plate reader records showed Cruz-Lopez’s gray Honda was in that area earlier on the same day. Federal agents traced the account using subscriber information and cellphone data to Cruz-Lopez’s home in Plant City, near Tampa. Open-source research, including a TikTok account, confirmed his identity.
A Secret Service agent noted there was probable cause to believe Cruz-Lopez violated federal law prohibiting threats against the president.
Cruz-Lopez was released on $250,000 unsecured bail.
The case follows recent federal prosecutions involving alleged threats against President Trump. Last week, prosecutors in Massachusetts charged Andrew D. Emerald, 45, of Great Barrington, with eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications for posts between May and July 2025 that threatened Trump’s life.
Emerald’s Facebook posts included statements such as: “When I see to it that Trump is put to death. It will be the day the purpose creation put me here for beyond creating…” and “Either Trump is dead and in the ground by 2026 or I am hunting him down and putting him there.”
The Department of Justice stated that the charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
