Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing questions after her department’s official X account reposted a TikTok video of a group of Black youths apparently threatening ICE agents that may not carry its original caption.
The official DHS account posted the video on Friday, which features an on-screen message that reads: “ICE We’re on the way. Word in the streets cartels put a $50k bounty on y’all.”
Noem herself claimed that drug cartels were placing bounties on agents’ heads in an interview with Fox and Friends earlier this month.
The department’s own comment in its post declared: “FAFO. If you threaten or lay hands on our law enforcement officers we will hunt you down and you will find out, really quick. We’ll see you cowards soon.”
However, social media users soon claimed to have tracked down the original version of the video and alleged it was first uploaded with an entirely different caption, in which the participants jokingly threaten Iran, not U.S. federal immigration agents.
California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell was reportedly one of the first to rebuke Secretary Noem over the post but has since deleted a tweet that read: “Kristi – DELETE THIS TWEET or answer for it in Congress. It’s FAKE. You’re the Queen of Photoshopping.”
Democratic congressional candidate Danny D Glover was among those to subsequently share a new TikTok video by the young man featured most prominently in the clip in which he explained that he had been notified about the controversy the DHS post had stirred up and said: “I saw the caption and I was like, ‘I didn’t do that!’”
He continued: “I’ve still got the video saved in my drafts on TikTok. Here’s the messed-up part: the federal government is involved with something that I didn’t do. What?”
A DHS spokesperson has since told The Independent in response: “This young man posted violent threats of murder against our law enforcement. He then deleted it when he was called out and attempted to deny all wrongdoing. We have the receipts, and the internet is forever.
“DHS did not edit, change, use AI, or in any other manner or form alter this video. It was downloaded directly from this individual’s account on Friday, October 17th after it had already acquired over 40,000 likes and hundreds of comments urging individuals to target our ICE officers.
“The willful ignorance and intentional blindness by leading Democrats to the massive increase in violent rhetoric against our agents due to their actions is both disgusting and disappointing. Violence against our agents and officers MUST STOP.”
The DHS has received regular criticism this year for its social media output under Noem’s leadership, which has often seen it mix memes with aggressive posturing against undocumented migrants.
It received a savage response from the creators of South Park after it attempted to repurpose a still from a recent episode satirising ICE, the Trump administration and Noem herself, while the pop star Jess Glynn said she felt “sick” when one of her songs was used in a video about mass deportations.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the estates of Woody Guthrie and Tom Petty have similarly complained about their songs being used in DHS posts and the painter Morgan Weistling and the estate of another artist, Thomas Kincaid, have also complained about their work being appropriated.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has previously said of the DHS’s online messaging strategy: “The Department of Homeland Security is bypassing the mainstream media to give Americans the facts, debunk the lies, and unapologetically celebrate our homeland, heritage, and the rule of law.
“We are pleased that the media is highlighting DHS’s historic successes in making America safe again.”
