Kristi Noem is under fire after the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) posted an allegedly doctored video on its official social media handles. The video in question features a group of young Black men with a caption threatening ICE agents.
“ICE, we’re on the way. Word in the streets, cartels put a $50k bountyon y’all,” the caption of the allegedly fake video reads. Sharing this video, the DHS wrote, “FAFO,” which is an acronym for “F— around and find out.”
“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,” the Department further added. The post came days after DHS confirmed that “Mexican criminals, in coordination with domestic extremist groups,” have placed targeted bounties on ICE agents. The structured bounty program motivates street gangs to monitor, harass, and assassinate ICE agents.
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. pic.twitter.com/KmxCp2IEKc
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 17, 2025
DHS claimed that $2,000 was offered for gathering intelligence on agents and their families, $5,000–$10,000 for kidnapping or assaulting standard ICE/CBP officers. Up to $50,000 was reportedly offered to kill high-ranking ICE officials.
Shortly after the tweet of young Black men threatening ICE agents was posted, Internet users found out that the clip had been doctored. The original TikTok video was reportedly posted in 2022 with an entirely different caption referencing Iran. Critics eventually grabbed the opportunity to slam the current administration for sharing “fake” and “misleading” posts.
lying on black people to incite a race war. pathetic pic.twitter.com/Qmy6MizKPh
— Mightykeef (@MightyKeef) October 18, 2025
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell called out Kristi Noem in his tweet. He wrote, “Kristi — DELETE THIS TWEET or answer for it in Congress. It’s FAKE.”
“You’re the Queen of Photoshopping,” he added, according to Atlanta Black Star.
The person who is believed to have made this video also came forward and shared that the altered version caught him by surprise. “I saw the caption and I was like, ‘I didn’t do that!’ 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,” he said.
Appears there may be a lot more to this story.
The video posted by DHS showing calls for $50,000 bounties on ICE agents is a heavily edited TikTok video from 2022.
The original poster is now receiving threats across social media pic.twitter.com/gENjJmUQiv
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) October 18, 2025
The entire incident is now going viral across social media profiles, with many users calling DHS’s “fake” tweet “sick” and “disgusting.” Martez Files, a verified X page, revealed in their post that the young men are now being “harassed, doxxed, and targeted by thousands.”
“This is the risk of being pro-America: he spoke on behalf of the might of the American military, and now he is being hunted by the very state he endorsed. This is state violence refined and a rehearsal in public persecution,” they added.
The original TikTok user who first posted the video accused the DHS of “Lying on Black people to incite unnecessary violence.”
“Sounds about white,” he reacted to being targeted by the DHS because of his race.
DHS, however, remains firm that the video indeed threatened ICE agents. “WE HAVE THE RECEIPTS,” the department replied in the comments.
“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. 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 further claimed.
