Timothy Hummel, a 26-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, pleaded guilty to threatening to murder federal immigration officers — a calculated act of intimidation aimed at derailing federal enforcement operations. The announcement, made by U.S. Attorney Jason R. Dunn, confirms Hummel’s direct assault on law enforcement through a barrage of threats delivered via phone and email.
Hummel initiated a series of calls to the Denver Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations on August 14, 2019. Within minutes, he left two voicemails laced with violent intent, followed by an email sent to the agency’s official outreach mailbox. In each message, Hummel explicitly threatened to kill ICE agents and target their families — a chilling escalation meant to instill fear.
The investigation revealed Hummel’s motive was not just rage — it was strategy. He admitted to making the threats to scare agents and force ICE and federal security teams to divert resources from core operations into threat assessment and response. His goal: paralyze federal enforcement from the shadows using fear as a weapon.
Hummel appeared remotely for his change of plea hearing on August 10, 2020, before U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson. Despite the severity of the charges, he remained free on bond, which was continued without modification at the hearing’s end. He was originally charged by federal indictment on March 11, 2020, in the District of Colorado under Case Number 20-cr-087.
The case was jointly investigated by the FBI’s Denver office and the Federal Protective Service (FPS), agencies that treat threats against federal personnel as top-priority crimes. With Hummel’s guilty plea, prosecutors signaled zero tolerance for attacks on law enforcement — even when the weapon is a voice mail. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Martinez is leading the prosecution.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 26, 2020. Court documents and the full press release are available through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado and via PACER. The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice — an institution now confronting modern threats cloaked in digital bravado.
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Key Facts
- State: Colorado
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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