Federal Courts and DOJ

A federal criminal complaint in the Central District of California charges 22‑year‑old Marco Antonio Aguayo of Anaheim with threatening the president and successors to the presidency after he allegedly posted Instagram comments about pipe bombs and 'bloodshed' timed to Vice President JD Vance’s July 12 visit to Disneyland Resort. According to a Secret Service affidavit, an account traced to Aguayo told Disney’s official Instagram followers that 'pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival' and warned there would be bloodshed that night, prompting a federal investigation. Agents say records from Meta, Google and other providers tied the account to Aguayo’s email, phones, IP addresses and home, and that after initially claiming he was hacked, he admitted making the posts as a 'joke' before consenting to searches that found him logged into the account. Aguayo was arrested Friday and is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, as Attorney General Pamela Bondi and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli used the case to warn that anonymous online threats against public officials will be aggressively prosecuted. The arrest adds to a growing list of federal cases over social‑media threats targeting top officials, from Vice President Vance to campus radio hosts and others whose posts have already drawn Secret Service scrutiny.