A 33-year-old Ironwood man is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he used Facebook to threaten to kill Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, complete with gun photos and talk of a possible trip to Minnesota to act on those threats.
A federal grand jury in Madison indicted Justin P. Ward on one count of using interstate commerce to transmit threats to injure, a federal crime that can carry prison time. Online court records show the indictment was filed Feb. 2, according to USA Today Network. Prosecutors say Ward’s posts included images of weapons and comments that suggested he was headed toward Minnesota while making the threats.
According to a federal complaint, deputies reviewed a Facebook profile they believe Ward controlled under the name “Wild Henry Gunner.” The account featured photos of him holding what appeared to be a Mac-10-style weapon, a Russian Saiga rifle, and other firearms. The complaint also points to comments where he allegedly wrote that he needed a “long distance relationship with a .308” and that he would “sit in a window and snipe some police and ice,” USA Today Network reported.
Multi‑agency probe
The case quickly turned into a multi-state investigation. The FBI’s Milwaukee office, working through its Eau Claire resident agency, joined the probe along with state and local partners in Minnesota and Michigan, according to WFRV Local 5. The Minnesota State Patrol and Saint Paul Police Department were among the agencies that helped review social media posts and movements tied to the account.
Gogebic County deputies first tipped off federal investigators after they came across the posts while trying to locate Ward on an unrelated matter, WFRV Local 5 reported.
Phone tracking and alleged movements
Court paperwork states that the FBI in Detroit obtained emergency location information for a phone number linked to Ward and then watched that phone move west across northern Michigan, into northern Wisconsin and in the direction of Duluth. Deputies told investigators that Ward had texted an Ironwood public safety worker on the morning of Jan. 29 and that he was already the subject of a separate probable-cause arrest order tied to an allegation made on Jan. 28.
When deputies went to Ward’s home to arrest him on that earlier matter, they did not find him, according to the complaint. Instead, they located the Facebook profile and posts that triggered the federal investigation, USA Today Network reported.
Legal stakes
Ward is charged under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), a federal statute that criminalizes threats sent across state lines, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison for transmitting a communication that contains a threat to injure. Courts have long wrestled with what counts as a “true threat” under that law, and these cases often turn on context and how seriously the statements would be taken.
Social media posts are not immune. They can be prosecuted if a reasonable recipient would view them as credible threats, and the statute along with related case law sets the bar prosecutors must clear. The LII summarizes the statute’s language and potential penalties.
What’s next
The indictment, filed in federal court in Madison, will move forward in the Western District of Wisconsin, according to WFRV Local 5. Ward faces up to five years in prison if convicted under federal law. Investigators say the probe remains active as agencies in multiple states continue to coordinate and follow leads.
