Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Topics: TikTok, Crime, Social Media, US News, Politics
Ellie Kemp
Topics: TikTok, Crime, Social Media, US News, Politics
A man has been arrested after allegedly posting a TikTok offering $45,000 to kill US Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Tyler Avalos from St Paul, Minnesota, was apprehended by authorities at his home on October 16, as per an FBI affidavit.
The offending social media post showed Bondi with a sniper’s red dot on her forehead and the words: "WANTED: Pam Bondi / REWARD: 45,000 / DEAD OR ALIVE (PREFERABLY DEAD)."
The caption added: "Cough cough. When they don’t serve us, then what?"
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Its posting was attributed to an account called @liminalvoidslip, whose screen name read 'WACKO' - the 'a' an anarchist symbol. Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates for a society without government or hierarchical authority.
The post was reported to the FBI National Threat Operations Center on October 9 by another TikTok user.
The FBI traced the account through TikTok, Google, and Comcast data to a Samsung device linked to Avalos.
The 29-year-old, who has a history of stalking and domestic battery convictions, faces federal charges for transmitting a threat to injure.
Avalos's attorney, Daniel Gerdts, told Law&Crime that his client is 'not guilty of any crime'. Prosecutors must prove that Avalos’ post was a true threat and that it is not protected political speech under the First Amendment.
Last Wednesday (October 22), Avalos appeared in court and waived his preliminary hearing, reports NBC News.
He was released from court under several conditions, including that he must stay within Minnesota, continue mental health treatment, avoid alcohol and weapons, follow a curfew, wear a GPS monitor and get approval before using the internet.
Bondi is the 87th US attorney general, appointed by Donald Trump's administration earlier this year. The Republican Party member previously served as Florida's attorney general from 2011 to 2019.
Since her appointment as U.S. Attorney General, Bondi has become deeply involved in the controversy surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files.
In a February Fox News interview, she said the Department of Justice was reviewing what she described as a 'client list' connected to Epstein and that it was 'sitting on my desk.'
Five months later, though, the DOJ and FBI issued a memo concluding there was no credible evidence that Epstein maintained a 'client list' of influential figures or blackmailed them, seemingly contradicting public expectations raised by Bondi’s earlier comments.
However, the White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, later said that Bondi was referring to a general list of crimes committed by Epstein.
Avalos' arrest comes a month after right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during a debate at Utah Valley University on September 10.
LADbible Group has contacted Bondi's office, the Justice Department, and the FBI for comment.