His name is Derek Lopez and he’s a 27-year-old teaching assistant at Illinois State University. Ten days ago we had him in our headlines after he was arrested for making an ass of himself by flipping a TPUSA table on campus.
WATCH: A teacher assistant at Illinois State University flipped over a @tpusastudents table and tore down flyers promoting an upcoming @alexstein99 event.
🎥 @jessburback @tpusastudents pic.twitter.com/ydhIfcEa24
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) October 17, 2025
The university indicated he had actually done this twice, but it was only caught on video once. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and damage to propery.
On October 17, 2025, after an investigation by the Illinois State University Police Department (ISUPD), 27-year-old Derek Lopez, of El Paso, IL, was arrested in Normal on charges of Disorderly Conduct and Criminal Damage to Property. Lopez is a graduate student and teaching assistant at Illinois State University.
Over the last week Lopez is alleged to have disrupted two informational tabling events being hosted by a registered student organization. ISUPD was contacted by the registered student organization following the escalation leading to an investigation, identification, and arrest. This case is pending and may be grounds for additional charges and University disciplinary action.
But it turns out that turning over tables was not the extent of his “activism.” He had also been posting death threats online.
PARENTS🚨🚨 @IllinoisStateU employs this person as a teacher assistant. Is this the kind of school you want to pay to educate your child? What if Derek Lopez snaps & starts “whacking” his students?? Should you be afraid? Should your child be afraid in class?? Send them to @SIUE. pic.twitter.com/bJxAyhYhiP
— MEGA President-Elect SOS (@ElectSos) October 20, 2025
Someone noticed a slew of similar threats Lopez was making and contacted the FBI. In one post he wrote, “I am a Christian communist and will kill you if you decide to call yourself a f***ing Nazi. Hitler died once. Let’s go for 2/2.” In another he wrote, “My free speech is this: I, Derek S Lopez, killed him. I killed Charlie Kirk.”
On Oct. 9 the FBI contacted Lopez and he agreed to meet with them on campus. They spoke to him about the difference between free speech and threats. Lopez said none of his posts were meant to be threats and that he would never harm anyone but he did think some people should die. After the FBI agents left, he started posting under a new account including a photo of the agents he had taken during the meeting. He texted them and asked if that was okay.
It was a few days after this meeting that Lopez started turning over TPUSA tables and got arrested by campus police. During an interview with campus police he expanded on his views on threatening Nazis.
He explained he posted on social media about how he wants to kill Nazis. He said it feels like Nazism and Fascism are on the rise. He stated he doesn’t want to kill people but his honest opinion some powerful people should be killed…Now with Nazis and fascists in the White House, he says it feels bad to say “I hope those people get killed by someone.”…He said he would like to convince people not to be Nazis or Fascists, so his posts are a way to tell people they are in danger if they are Nazis or Fascists…He explained that Nazis and Fascists are the ones who are telling a lie and know it to be a lie such as billionaires like Elon Musk.
He stated when Charlie Kirk was assassinated is when he started this idea of posting to kill Nazis or Fascists…
He said if his words convince people to kill Nazis then it is better than killing people who didn’t deserve it. He then compared himself to Charlie Kirk saying they are both innocent if their words don’t commit the crimes, but if people act off their words, it is on the people for committing the crimes not his words.
Of course, Charlie Kirk wasn’t threatening to kill anyone. So that’s a minor difference Lopez seems to have missed.
But instead of taking the hint from a) the FBI visit and b) the arrest for his actions on campus, Lopez decided to escalate. Instead of thinly veiled threats, he started posting death threats referencing the President of the United States.
One post from Saturday, which was still visible to the public, included a video of a man pointing a gun, layered under an illustration of Mr. Trump with a target on his forehead and several images of Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director. Another account named in the affidavit was private.
According to the affidavit, Mr. Lopez posted in the comments of a Secret Service post on Instagram that with the account inactive during the government shutdown, “this is the perfect time to kill the president! The Secret Service is down!” And he wrote in a post on X on Oct. 27 that “I’m gonna kill Donald Trump,” according to the affidavit.
Lopez was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday.
The FBI Springfield Office, in collaboration with our federal and state partners, are announcing the arrest of Derek Lopez, 27, for making threats against President Donald Trump within the Central District of Illinois. We are grateful for the significant assistance provided by… pic.twitter.com/ZcweRhE9oE
— FBI Springfield (@FBISpringfield) October 29, 2025
The threats against President Trump allegedly posted by this individual are heinous and have no place in our society.
Let this be a message: anyone who threatens violence against public officials or any American will be found and brought to justice. pic.twitter.com/mdQZMtP7pF
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) October 29, 2025
Lopez had previously claimed his threats were performance art. I guess we’ll find out soon if a judge agrees with that. If he gets convicted, he’s facing up to five years in prison. He won’t get that but I do think he’s going to lose his job pretty soon.
