Oklahoma man convicted on 10 federal counts for threatening to kill ICE agents on social media

A federal jury in Oklahoma convicted a 26-year-old Skiatook man on 10 federal counts after he posted threats on X calling for ICE agents to be gunned down and "executed." Logan Christopher Murfin now sits in federal custody awaiting sentencing, the latest casualty of a climate in which threats against immigration officers have exploded.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma announced the verdict on April 27. Murfin was found guilty on five counts of threatening to assault and kill federal law enforcement officers and another five counts of interstate communication of threats. He had been free on bond before trial. Authorities took him into custody immediately after the jury returned its verdict.

The case began in October 2025, when Homeland Security Investigations personnel flagged posts on X made under the handle "Azulenq" after receiving an intelligence tip. Search warrants tied the account to Murfin, who had been posting from his home in Skiatook, a small city northeast of Tulsa.

What Murfin posted

Court documents filed in the case laid out the substance of Murfin's posts. In one, he wrote: "Need too start shooting these 'just following orders' pigs. Ice agents are reenacting ww2 nazi germany and its not acceptable. Only good ice terrorist is buried 6 feet under." In another, he urged fellow citizens to take up arms: "but we as US citizens should be gunning down these domestic terrorists. All ice gestapo can not use the 'just following orders' excuse. If you're complicit in this act you've gotta be executed for this act."

Those are not the words of someone venting about a parking ticket. They are specific calls for lethal violence against named federal officers, posted on a public platform where anyone, including the agents themselves, could read them.

After his arrest, Murfin acknowledged authoring the posts. The Department of Justice stated that he told agents he was angry and "p***ed off" at ICE officers. A recording of that interview was played for the jury at trial.

First Amendment defense rejected

Murfin's legal team tried to get the case thrown out on First Amendment grounds before trial. Judge Gregory Frizzell denied the motion. He ruled that a reasonable jury could view the posts as genuine threats of violence rather than protected political speech. The jury agreed, convicting Murfin on every count.

The distinction matters. Americans have broad rights to criticize government policy, including immigration enforcement. But the law draws a clear line at true threats, specific, credible statements aimed at particular people or classes of officials. Murfin's posts did not critique a policy. They called for federal agents to be shot and buried. A jury of his peers heard the evidence and found that crossed the line.

The Justice Department has been active in federal courts on multiple fronts in recent months, but this prosecution sends a pointed message about the cost of threatening the men and women who enforce immigration law.

A broader threat environment

Murfin's conviction did not happen in a vacuum. The Department of Homeland Security said in October 2025 that death threats against ICE personnel had surged 8,000 percent. Officers also faced bounties, doxxing, and threats targeting their families, the Daily Caller reported.

Eight thousand percent. That is not a rounding error or a political talking point. It reflects a real and dangerous escalation, one that coincides with heated national debate over immigration enforcement. ICE agents carry out lawful orders under federal statute. They do not set policy. They execute it. Treating them as legitimate targets for violence because one disagrees with the policy they enforce is a recipe for chaos.

The administration has made clear that ICE funding remains a priority, and the political fight over immigration enforcement shows no sign of cooling. That makes the threat environment for agents all the more serious.

U.S. attorney draws the line

U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson left no ambiguity about how his office views these cases. In a statement accompanying the verdict, Johnson said:

"Threatening to kill hard-working federal law enforcement officers will not be tolerated. In the Northern District of Oklahoma, we will prosecute those who do to the fullest extent that federal law allows."

That is the right posture. Federal law enforcement officers, whether they work for ICE, the FBI, or any other agency, deserve to know that the justice system will hold accountable anyone who threatens their lives. The rule of law depends on it.

The case also illustrates how digital forensics and interagency intelligence sharing can work when they are properly focused. An intelligence tip led Homeland Security Investigations to the posts. Search warrants connected the anonymous handle to a real person at a real address. The suspect's own recorded admissions sealed the case. That is competent, methodical law enforcement.

The broader landscape of federal prosecution decisions remains politically contentious. But this case should not be. Threatening to shoot and bury federal officers is not speech. It is a crime. A grand jury indicted Murfin in December 2025. A trial jury convicted him on all counts. The system worked.

What comes next

A sentencing date has not yet been set. The specific statutes under which Murfin was convicted and the potential sentencing range have not been publicly detailed in the court filings available. But 10 federal counts, five for threatening to assault and kill officers, five for interstate communication of threats, carry serious consequences.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues to pursue referrals and cases across a range of national security and law enforcement matters. The Murfin conviction adds another data point: when you threaten federal agents in writing, on a public platform, and then admit it on tape, a jury will hold you to account.

Murfin's posts compared ICE agents to Nazis and called for their deaths. A jury in Oklahoma called that what it is, a federal crime, not free speech. The agents he threatened will go back to work. He will wait for sentencing in a cell.

When the political temperature around immigration runs this high, accountability for threats is not optional. It is the bare minimum a civilized country owes the people it sends to enforce its laws.