A 20-year-old man from Florida, Nick Guadalupe Cruz-Lopez, is facing federal charges after allegedly threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump.
Cruz-Lopez is accused of posting a message on social media claiming he was en route to kill Trump, accompanied by an image of himself holding an AR-15-style rifle inside a vehicle.
Federal authorities have charged Cruz-Lopez with one count of making a threat to kill the president of the United States.
The investigation into the threat began on April 2, when the United States Secret Service was alerted to a concerning Instagram post by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The Social Media Post and Initial Investigation
The investigation began when Meta flagged an Instagram post made by an account with the username “813.cruzz.” The post included a message reading, “MAGA Otw to kill trump,” and a photo showing the user holding an AR-15-style rifle while seated inside a vehicle.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the post was transmitted via the internet, which is considered an instrumentality of interstate commerce.
Federal investigators were able to identify the individual in the image by examining the distinctive tattoo on his forearm, which was visible in the Instagram post.
Meta provided law enforcement with critical information, including location data that placed the post in the vicinity of St. Pete Beach, Florida, roughly 125 miles southwest of Orlando.
Tracking Cruz-Lopez to His Location
Using location data from Meta, authorities were able to confirm that Cruz-Lopez’s gray Honda vehicle was in the same area at the time the post was made. Automated license plate readers helped identify the vehicle as registered to Cruz-Lopez.
Meta also provided the phone number and birthdate associated with the Instagram account, allowing law enforcement to obtain emergency records from T-Mobile. With this information, agents were able to confirm Cruz-Lopez’s identity and trace his phone to an address in Plant City, Florida.
State driver records further corroborated Cruz-Lopez’s identity, linking him to the vehicle used in the Instagram post. Additionally, investigators found a TikTok account with the username “@813.cruzz,” which displayed a forearm tattoo that matched the one seen in the Instagram photo.
Arrest and Federal Charges
Using open-source and law enforcement intelligence, the Secret Service confirmed that the information provided by Meta and T-Mobile matched Cruz-Lopez’s identity. Federal agents located Cruz-Lopez later that same day and took him into custody without incident.
Cruz-Lopez now faces a federal charge for making a threat to kill the president. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison. The arrest highlights the growing role of social media platforms and collaboration between private companies and law enforcement in tracking and addressing online threats.
