Was a $45k hit put out against Pam Bondi? Murder-for-hire plot on TikTok explored as FBI arrests anarchist

A 29-year-old anarchist, Tyler Maxon Avalos, was arrested by the FBI after he allegedly put a $45K hit out on US Attorney General Pam Bondi on TikTok. Records reportedly show a lengthy prior criminal history for Avalos.

On October 16, Tyler Maxon Avalos was arrested after a tipster informed the FBI about the anarchist's alleged murder-for-hire plot targeted at Pam Bondi. He was charged with interstate transmission of a threat to injure another person and creating an online post containing a threat to injure.

As per the court documents, the suspect put out a post with Bondi's image on his TikTok earlier in October, with the following caption:

"WANTED: Pam Bondi / REWARD: 45,000 ‘ DEAD OR ALIVE / (PREFERABLY DEAD)."

Avalos also added under the photo, which had a "sniper-scope red hot" on the US General's forehead:

"Cough cough. When they don’t serve us, then what?"

The feds added that Avalos' X username was "Wacko", which is allegedly an anarchist symbol. His profile was also linked to "an Anarchist FAQ book", per the documents. The suspect's previous criminal history includes stalking charges and domestic assault.

The investigation originally began on October 9, when the tipster "submitted a report to the FBI National Threat Operations Center", alongside flagging Avalos' TikTok account. The social media platform was involved in tracing the suspect, while Google and Comcast also helped.

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TikTok anarchist who posted murder-for-hire plan for Pam Bondi had multiple previous criminal charges

Pam Bondi - Source: Getty

Following Tyler Maxon Avalos's arrest, FBI agents confirmed that the TikTok anarchist had "multistate conviction history". This includes a felony stalking conviction from July 2022 in Minnesota, an August 2016 felony third-degree domestic battery conviction charge in Florida, and a misdemeanor domestic assault from Dakota County, Minnesota, in April 2016. The final one, they noted, "appears to have been reduced from a felony domestic assault by strangulation charge."

According to documents cited by Law&Crime, a US magistrate judge granted Avalos bail on multiple conditions, including that he does not travel outside Minnesota, does not get access to the internet without prior permission, receives mental health treatment, does not consume alcohol, and observes a curfew.

After receiving information from the tipster about the Pam Bondi murder-for-hire charges, the FBI submitted an emergency disclosure request to TikTok. The social media platform cooperated, with the agents discovering that Avalos used a Samsung Galaxy phone to sign up on the platform. With the help of Google and Comcast, they traced the IP address to track him down to his home in St. Paul. An arrest warrant was issued by the local magistrate.

As of now, the federal government must prove that Avalos' social media posts about Pam Bondi cause a "serious threat" to the US General. They must also establish that it was not hyperbolic political speech, which could be protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution, safeguarding free speech.

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Bondi's reps have not commented on the matter as of this writing. Avalos' lawyers have also not responded to a request for comment.

Edited by Pratyasha Sarkar