Miami man sentenced to federal prison for death threats against Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem

A Miami man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for posting online death threats against Secretary of State Marco Rubio and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Jon Christopher Enriquez, 47, was sentenced after pleading guilty to three counts of transmitting threats through interstate communications.

According to court records, Enriquez published three public posts on X on May 27, threatening to kill Rubio and Noem, who was then serving as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a U.S.-led initiative aimed at strengthening security cooperation with countries across the Western Hemisphere, particularly in combating drug trafficking, organized crime and illegal immigration.

The threats were posted separately over the course of the afternoon and included specific times when both officials would be executed, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

"Anyone who believes they can hide behind a keyboard while threatening to kill our nation's leaders should think again," said Acting U.S. Attorney Yara Lorenzo Klukas for the Southern District of Florida.

"These are not harmless words. They are serious federal crimes with serious consequences. We will work relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to identify, prosecute, and bring to justice those who make such threats," Klukas added.

The U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Miami police and the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.