A 20-year-old Florida man was arrested and charged with threatening to kill President Donald Trump after allegedly posting a message on Instagram alongside a photo of himself holding an AR-style rifle, federal authorities announced Monday.

Nick Guadalupe Cruz-Lopez, of Plant City, was charged Friday with making threats against the president, the Department of Justice said. The charge is a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 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 account identified as “813.cruzz,” which had posted the message “MAGA Otw to kill trump” — with “otw” commonly understood on social media to mean “on the way” — alongside an image of a person holding what authorities described as an AR-15-style rifle while seated inside a vehicle.

Meta also provided location data placing the post near St. Pete Beach, Florida. Investigators corroborated that information using automated license plate reader data, which showed Cruz-Lopez’s gray Honda in the same area earlier that day. Federal agents then traced the account through subscriber information, cellphone data, and open-source research including a TikTok account, which led them to Cruz-Lopez’s home near Tampa.

Court records indicate Cruz-Lopez was released on $250,000 unsecured bail. His public defender, Laura Hastay, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The arrest is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions involving alleged online threats against Trump. Last week, prosecutors in Massachusetts announced charges against Andrew D. Emerald, 45, of Great Barrington, who was indicted on eight counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications for a series of Facebook posts made between May and July 2025.

In one post, Emerald allegedly wrote: “Either Trump is dead and in the ground by 2026 or I am hunting him down and putting him there.” Another post stated that killing Trump was the purpose he was “put here for.” The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)