A professor at Northeastern Illinois University was arrested last month after federal agents discovered he was carrying a loaded firearm outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in the Chicago area.
Authorities say the man, identified as Elias Cepeda, has suspected ties to Antifa and a record of making violent statements against law enforcement online.
Cepeda was taken into custody on September 26 outside the ICE detention center in Broadview, Illinois, where federal agents say he arrived armed with a handgun and multiple rounds of ammunition.
Elias Cepeda, a professor at @NEIU, was reportedly arrested with a loaded handgun at an anti-ICE protest in Chicago after comparing ICE agents to nazis. He also allegedly has ties to antifa
Any comment @NEIU? pic.twitter.com/zXl5UHVSuE
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 12, 2025
The Broadview facility has been a flashpoint for protests in recent weeks, including several demonstrations that escalated into violence targeting law enforcement officers.
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According to the Department of Homeland Security, Cepeda’s arrest came as tensions mounted among demonstrators.
ANTIFA: Northeastern Illinois University professor and Antifa member, Elias Cepeda, called ICE agents “Nazis” before he was arrested in Chicago carrying a loaded gun and extra ammo at an anti-ICE protest. https://t.co/eMMYtUDZH4 pic.twitter.com/LL1fdCZkYP
— @amuse (@amuse) October 11, 2025
Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Cepeda was detained before the situation could escalate further.
“Elias Cepeda has suspected ties to the domestic terrorist organization ANTIFA and has a history of glorifying violence against—and the killing of—our brave law enforcement,” McLaughlin said in a statement.
“Violent individuals like Cepeda are putting the public and our law enforcement’s lives in danger. Just two days after the horrific attack on ICE in Dallas, Cepeda brought a loaded gun and multiple magazines to our ICE facility in Chicago,” she continued.
“Thank God law enforcement intervened and arrested Cepeda before he could have potentially shot or killed anyone.”
McLaughlin added that the administration would continue to support federal officers protecting immigration facilities across the country.
“Let this serve as a stark warning to any individual who wishes to do our law enforcement harm or any ANTIFA terrorist: President Trump and Secretary Noem will fight every day to protect and defend the men and women who keep our country safe from violent extremists and criminal illegal aliens alike,” she said.
Investigators confirmed Cepeda is a faculty member at Northeastern Illinois University, where he teaches journalism.
Federal sources said his arrest followed months of monitoring online posts and prior incidents in which he appeared to promote violence toward federal agencies.
Cepeda’s social media accounts show a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric directed at ICE agents.
In June, responding to a Department of Homeland Security post about an immigration arrest in Los Angeles, he wrote, “First of all, the video you just posted showed your Nazi asses are lying. Secondly, we’d all be morally justified in taking your Nazi heads off with weed whackers.”
In another post in January, made shortly after President Trump took office, Cepeda wrote, “Now that ICE is showing up at elementary schools with weapons and no warrants attempting to terrorize kids I am in favor of teachers and staff being armed to protect children.”
Federal officials say those remarks, combined with his presence at multiple anti-ICE demonstrations, drew the attention of law enforcement agencies tasked with monitoring potential threats against immigration facilities.
The Department of Homeland Security said the arrest came just days after a separate violent incident targeting ICE personnel in Dallas.
That attack, which resulted in multiple injuries, led to increased security measures at federal offices nationwide.
Authorities have not announced whether Cepeda will face criminal charges related to the September 26 incident.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is reviewing the case, according to officials familiar with the investigation.
Cepeda’s arrest followed another Broadview case earlier in the week in which a grand jury declined to indict two individuals accused of assaulting federal agents while armed at the same ICE facility.
The incidents have prompted renewed attention to violent threats against law enforcement amid escalating protests surrounding immigration enforcement actions across several U.S. cities.
