ICEBlock, a phone app that allows users to anonymously report the presence of masked ICE officials in their area, has become a target of MAGA anti-immigrant furor from the administration on down.
Leaders of the Trump regime have announced possible prosecutions for those even mentioning ICEBlock. Speaking in Florida during a tour of their Everglades-based concentration camp, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem indicated that the administration is looking into legal action against CNN for reporting on the app—an action that would egregiously violate the First Amendment.
From the Florida prison camp, Noem told reporters, “We’re working with the Department of Justice to see if we can prosecute them for that because what they’re doing is actively encouraging people to avoid law enforcement operations.”[1] Hinting at the nature of possible charges in a June 30 post on X (Twitter), Noem wrote, “This sure looks like obstruction of justice…If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”[2]
Trump reiterated the threat, stating, “So they may very well be prosecuted for that…What they did there, we think, is totally illegal.” Trump advisor Stephen Miller, known for pushing white nationalist literature just before serving in the first Trump administration, declared, “CNN is openly helping invaders and insurrectionists sabotage ICE.”[3]
Additionally, ICEBlock app creator Joshua Aaron confided to the Queen City News of having received death threats, “I got three death threats last night through email. I can’t live in fear, and this is way more important because if we can save one person’s life, if we can just help one person avoid an encounter or some horrible situation, that’s all that matters.”[4]
As Trump regime leaders continue to amp up their authoritarianism, far-right groups and leaders on the ground are taking another tack – calling for activists to disrupt efforts to notify communities of ICE actions by filing false reports on ICEBlock and similar apps – an effort also intended to terrorize immigrants and their supporters.
One prominent activist pushing this tactic is Bo Loudon (219, 894 followers), a self-described “ambassador” of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, a far-right group with close ties to the Trump family. Loudon’s website describes him as “a prominent 18-year-old pro-Trump influencer who has been shared by President Trump, featured on Fox News, and is an ambassador for TPUSA, Students for Trump, and Today is America.”[5]
Donald Trump with TPUSA ambassador Bo Loudon
In a July 1 X post, Loudon wrote, “Trump supporters, including myself, are hijacking the ‘ICEBlock’ app meant to warn illegals of ICE agents by flooding it with fake reports. Illegals are fleeing in panic…The Left’s app just became our secret weapon.”[6]
And Loudon’s X post, or its unattributed text, were circulated in Facebook groups such as the STOP Illegal Immigration & Secure OUR Borders NOW! (54,883 members), Republicans With Balls and Backbones(44,833-members), and the Brooklyn Tea Party Patriots (2,818 members)[7]
Jack Posobiec (145,543 subscribers), another prominent regime ally, also joined the fray. Known for having promoted the bogus “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory and flirting with white nationalists, Posobiec posted in Telegram, “Just downloaded ICEBlock. I’m marking all of my local grocery stores, malls and parks.”[8]
Jack Posobiec confesses to false reporting on ICEBlock
On July 1, the Telegram account of the Ohio-based group, The Proud Boys of Columbus (514 subscribers), announced, “We’ve made 21 reports so far this morning!” describing its plans to do so in ICEBlock and other similar apps.
Other Proud Boys groups circulated the same call to action, including the Autonomous PB (245 subscribers), which describes itself as “A voluntary association of Autonomous Proud Boy chapters,” and the Infamous Legend Valley Proud Boys (166 subscribers). The Brien James channel (794 subscribers), James being a one-time racist skinhead whose channel still refers to him as “Indiana Proud Boy Prez,” is also circulating the call to adopt this tactic.[9]
The Miami-based Villain City Proud Boys (1,273 subscribers) wrote, “I encourage all ishit (sic) owners to download the app, and flood it with ICE sightings everywhere until it’s rendered unusable.”[10]
Meanwhile, such efforts have been making the rounds in far-right MAGA Facebook groups.
MAGA activist AC Knight has circulated his own call to disrupt ICEBlock in both the Florida Republicans of Facebook (4,299 members), a group formed as “Reopen Florida” to oppose 2020 COVID-related lockdowns, and the Wisconsin Conservative Union (3,464 members). Adding his own twist, Knight urges that “Anyone with Apple should get this app and use it to make false reports late in the evening in dangerous areas so that the anti ICE (sic) freaks will show up thinking they are messing with ICE but they will end up alone in Dangerous places with no law enforcement around.”[11]
Michele Talammo, an administrator for the NJ Tea Party Coalition (944 members) Facebook group, posted July 2 that, “Republicans are now flooding the ICEBlock app, an app used to help illegals evade ICE, with false reports in an effort to render the app unusable. Let’s hope it becomes so useless it no longer is functional.”[12] The Telegram channel The General (150, 046 subscribers) and the anti-vaccine GREAT AWAKENING WORLD – Truth & Secrets Revealed! (27, 725 subscribers) posted similar “news”-style snippets.[13]
Safe Seattle (approx. 22,000 followers) wrote that if their readers “use it to report fake ICE raids…then I hope they will send us screenshots.” Safe Seattle describes, “This is a page for people fighting to stop the destruction of Seattle by ‘progressives.’”[14] Dean Barret, administrator of the Facebook group #DonaldTrumpsRedState (3,511 members), is also circulating an article by Hot Air Associate Editor David Strom. In the article, Strom wrote,
“pro-ICE activists found a way to use the crowdfunding app to clear their neighborhoods and various locations elsewhere of illegal aliens: they started reporting ICE activity at the sort of places where illegal aliens like to hang out… At the very least, this renders the app pretty useless for its intended purpose—how does one know if the report is about real ICE activity or a fake? At the other end of the spectrum, it accomplishes the goal of clearing the streets of illegal aliens by making them worry that ICE agents are in the area… By rendering the app nearly useless, the people reporting fake ICE sightings aren’t just striking back, but also protecting ICE agents. Good work!”[15]
Since first surfacing a couple of days ago, this effort has already gained traction and could spread further. As threats to immigrants and our communities continue to emanate from both government action and far-right activists, make sure to be careful out there, folks.
This article was updated on July 3, 2025, to include additional information.
NOTES
[1] Garrison, Joey. “Trump says CNN may be prosecuted for reporting on app that alerts ICE sightings.” USA Today. July 1, 2025. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/01/trump-cnn-prosecuted-reporting-ice-app/84432559007/.
[2] Burman, Theo. “Kristi Noem Responds to ICEBlock App: ‘Obstruction of Justice’.” Newsweek. July 1, 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/kirsti-noem-iceblock-deportation-immigration-app-2092878.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Chow, Vivian. “ICEBlock app allows users to report ICE sightings in their community.” Queen City News. July 2, 2025. https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/iceblock-app-allows-users-to-report-ice-sightings-in-their-community/
[5] Bo Loudon. https://www.boloudon.org/. Accessed July 2, 2025.
[6] Bo Loudon. X. July 1, 2025. https://x.com/BoLoudon/status/1940175745143419378.
[7] George Koch. Republicans With Balls and Backbones. Facebook. July 2, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1152451401467896/posts/24016812047938507/; Cindy Trankel. Facebook. Posted in STOP Illegal Immigration & Secure OUR Borders NOW!. July 2, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/groups/125627424122535/user/100001101227030/; Patricia A. Finelli. Facebook. Posted in Brooklyn Tea Party Patriots. https://www.facebook.com/groups/176925139101638.
[8] Jack Posobiec. Telegram. July 3, 2025. https://t.me/Jack_Posobiec/59282; Michael Edison Hayden. Jack Posobiec’s Rise Tied to White Supremacist Movement. SPLC. July 8, 2020. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/jack-posobiecs-rise-tied-white-supremacist-movement/.
[9] The Proud Boys of Columbus. Telegram. July 1, 2025. https://t.me/ColumbusProudBoys/6839; Brien James Channel. Telegram. July 1, 2025. https://t.me/brienjames/8951; Autonomous PB. Telegram. July 1, 2025. https://t.me/autonomouspb/257; Infamous Legend Valley Proud Boys. Telegram. July 1, 2025. https://t.me/legendvalleyproudboys/10076
[10] Villain City Proud Boys. Telegram. July 1, 2025. https://t.me/MiamiProudBoys/4906
[11] AC Knight. Facebook. Posted in Wisconsin Conservative Union. July 2, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/groups/422045981267372/posts/3168718243266785/; AC Knight. Facebook. Posted in Florida Republicans of Facebook. July 2, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/groups/reopenflorida/posts/3642632799372992/.
[12] Michele Talammo. Facebook. Posted in NJ Tea Party Coalition. https://www.facebook.com/groups/203489121227/posts/10163505334316228/.
[13] The General. Telegram. July 2, 2025. https://t.me/GeneralMCNews/14090; GREAT AWAKENING WORLD – Truth & Secrets Revealed!. Telegram. July 2, 2025. https://t.me/greatawakeningworld/35772.
[14] Safe Seattle. Facebook. July 3, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/safeseattle.org/posts/pfbid026qhna45n6fPa5YsUyckkf8gHAwbX1ZMwsrCDscRGcDfXY9oA8hbRG5Xdf9XdyVTwl; Safe Seattle. Facebook. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/safeseattle.org.
[15] Dean Barret. Facebook. Published in #DonaldTrumpsRedState . July 2, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/groups/115640335449061/ ; David Strom. ICEBLOCK App Getting Hijacked by Pro-ICE Activists. Hot Air. July 2, 2025. https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/07/02/iceblock-app-getting-hijacked-by-pro-ice-activists-n3804399.
