ANTISOCIAL MEDIA

Man, 29, Arrested Over Allegedly Offering $45K for Pam Bondi Hit

The suspect used a TikTok post to put a bounty on the attorney general.

A man has been arrested for allegedly putting a $45,000 hit out on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, using social media. Tyler Maxon Avalos, 29, from Minnesota, posted the threat on TikTok, claiming he wanted Bondi “dead or alive” but “preferably dead,” according to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Caleb Jurchisin. Avalos was arrested on Oct. 16 after a tip-off to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center. A TikTok user had contacted the FBI a week earlier after seeing a video putting the $45,000 bounty on Bondi, along with a picture of the attorney general “with a sniper-scope red dot on” her forehead. The account that posted the threat reportedly had used symbols associated with anarchists. The FBI enlisted TikTok, Google and Comcast to track down the suspect, who was charged with the creation of “an online post containing a threat to injure,” according to a criminal complaint. Avalos appeared in court last Wednesday, where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He was released by a judge on a personal recognizance but was ordered to wear a GPS monitor to track his location. Records show he has a lengthy criminal history, including stalking and domestic assault.