OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
4:08 PM – Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Twin brothers in Absecon, New Jersey, were arrested on Tuesday after being accused of posting social media threats to torture, hang, and kill Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in addition to calls to “shoot ICE on sight.”
As Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, 31-year-old McLaughlin oversees the DHS’s public outreach.
Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores, the twin brothers, were arrested on Tuesday morning during a joint operation by DHS and the Absecon Police Department SWAT team. The arrests followed the execution of a search and arrest warrant at the suspects’ residence.
Both brothers are U.S. citizens, and they are currently in custody at the Absecon Police Department in New Jersey.
Emilio is being charged with unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy, terroristic threats, criminal coercion, threats, and cyber harassment — while Ricardo is being charged with Conspiracy terroristic threats.
Social media posts from the twins’ accounts explicitly called for McLaughlin to be tortured and killed in graphic, medieval fashion, including tarring and feathering her before hanging her.
In the now-deleted tweets, their posts read: “We Americans should find you, tar you, feather you, and hang you as we did to anyone serving tyrants before the Revolutionary War.”
Writer’s Note: Although the practice originated in medieval times and was popularized in 18th-century America, the intent of tarring and feathering was primarily to inflict public shame and intimidation, not necessarily to kill, despite the extreme pain caused by the hot tar, which could lead to severe blisters and skin removal.
McLaughlin later weighed in herself, unflinching: “Their threats won’t deter us. They won’t even slow us down.”
In addition to targeting McLaughlin, the twins had posted threats against ICE agents, declaring to shoot them on sight. The DHS released photographs showing two seized firearms and a large quantity of ammunition next to the twins — though no specific details about the weapons were provided.
Following the announced arrests, ICE Director Todd Lyons warned that such threats demand swift and immediate action, a point underscored by the arrests of the twins just three days after the tweets were posted.
“Let this be a warning to anyone who dares threaten or attack our brave law enforcement officers,” Lyons declared. “We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Lyons also noted that sanctuary city policies and the “rhetoric” of the mainstream liberal news are to blame for the “8,000 percent increase in death threats” against DHS agents and officials. Since President Donald Trump launched large-scale deportation operations in January, ICE and other immigration enforcement personnel have faced a sharp surge in reported violent threats and attacks.
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