Social Media Provocateurs Charged with Threatening to Harm Federal Agent and His Wife

ATLANTA - A federal grand jury has charged two out-of-state men with knowingly transmitting threats to injure a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer and his wife.

"Federal agents deserve to perform their duties free of harassment from keyboard warriors and other agitators," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "Threatening law enforcement officers and their families is not only illegal-it's disgusting. My office will ensure that anyone who threatens a federal agent in North Georgia, or who hides behind a computer screen to intimidate that agent's immediate family, is found, arrested, prosecuted, and held accountable."

"Threats of violence against law enforcement officers and their families are not only reprehensible, but also a direct attack on the safety and integrity of our justice system," said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. "These charges serve as a clear reminder that threats of this nature will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: Frank Andrew Waszut allegedly posted a video on Instagram that identified and displayed photographs of an ICE deportation officer who resides and works in the Northern District of Georgia. With those images on the screen, Waszut said: "And he's an ICE agent. This is him unmasked . . . . So, go ahead and make him famous. And if you see this [expletive] out in public give him the cell block one treatment. You know, catch him when he's alone." "Cell block one treatment" allegedly refers to subjecting a detainee to physical violence.

Similarly, Anthony Patrick Noto allegedly posted a comment on Instagram under the picture of the same deportation officer's wife, with Noto saying: "Anybody wanna test the sites [sic] on their new A-R? There's a pretty good target right there!" "A-R" refers to a semiautomatic rifle.

Noto, 63, of Ronkonkoma, New York, was taken into federal custody and arraigned on his federal indictment. Waszut, 41, of Knoxville, Tennessee, is currently in the custody of state law enforcement officials in Texas, where he has been charged for making separate terroristic threats against Republican lawmakers there. Both defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury on September 23, 2025.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictments only contain charges. The defendants are presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government's burden to prove the defendants' guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brent Alan Gray and Eric White are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney's Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6185. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is https://http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.