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A Melvindale man has been charged with making threats to kill ICE agents and other law enforcement officers, according to federal prosecutors.
Michael Petersen, 41, of Melvindale, was arrested July 16 and was charged with making a threat to assault or murder federal law enforcement and making threats via interstate communications.
Petersen allegedly posted a series of messages to social media between January and July 2026, threatening law enforcement and other social media users who opposed his views, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Michigan.
He allegedly encouraged his followers to shoot law enforcement in the face and telling them to "never trust officers. Death to them all," FBI Special Agent Kristopher Mead wrote in an affidavit seeking charges against Petersen.
"Wait till we start throwing grenades and start shooting armor piercing rounds at these agents," Mead said Petersen wrote.
United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. said in a statement that "threats against law enforcement are an attack on the rule of law. These brave Americans protect us. And we will do our part to protect them."
Petersen's attorney, Amanda Bashi, was not immediately available for comment.
After an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in June in Minnesota, Petersen allegedly commented "I can’t wait till someone shoots him in the face," Mead wrote. He also allegedly posted a wanted poster with a photo of the ICE agent on it, implying the agent was wanted for murder.
"I am waiting and I know for a fact that this is going to be the tipping point because if I start seeing any of those 'agents' in my streets, especially in my neighborhood, there’s not gonna be any of ‘em left (looking directly in the camera)," Petersen said, according to a transcript of a video in Mead's complaint. "Especially when they start harassing my neighbors because I have a heavy Middle Eastern community here. If I catch any of them harassing them when I know for a fact that they’re actually citizens here with their paperwork and everything… there’s not gonna be any of ‘em left and that’s a damn (expletive) fact."
In January, when Petersen went to the Detroit office of U.S. Department of Homeland Security to retrieve his property taken during a search warrant, Mead said he warned Petersen that "although he has a right to express himself, he crosses a line when he threatens to murder law enforcement officers. I also told PETERSEN that he should find a more suitable outlet for his frustrations with the country's current state of affairs," according to Mead's affidavit.
In July, Petersen allegedly made more threatening comments, saying the ICE agent who killed Good "can’t escape abullet. It’s coming soon. Just wait.;)."
Mead wrote in his affidavit that there is probable cause to believe Petersen's statements are true threats because they "encompass statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals."
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Melvindale man charged with making social media threats to shoot ICE officers
