Authorities have reportedly arrested a Florida man accused of threatening to kill Seth Dillon, the founder and CEO of the conservative satire outlet The Babylon Bee.
The arrest marks a serious escalation in a growing wave of politically motivated threats and violence targeting public figures across the ideological spectrum.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest on X, saying, “Last week, our Office of Statewide Prosecution was notified of multiple death threats made to Jewish conservative media members who live in Florida.”
Following the notification, prosecutors secured an arrest warrant, which law enforcement then executed. The suspect, identified as 28-year-old Nicholas Ray, now faces charges of extortion, written threats to kill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Authorities allege that Ray operated under the username “zionistarescum,” a handle used to post threatening and antisemitic messages directed at Dillon. Ray’s online activity included posts criticizing Israel, President Donald Trump, and Republican lawmakers, alongside the explicit threat to Dillon’s life.
Dillon, who founded The Babylon Bee in 2016 “to speak truth through humor,” has long been a target of online outrage due to the site’s conservative and Christian-leaning satire.
What began as a niche publication grew rapidly into one of the most widely shared conservative media outlets in the country, boasting more than 5 million followers on X and 2.2 million on Instagram.
The arrest comes amid a troubling rise in politically charged violence. In a recent column for The Free Press, Dillon urged both the Left and Right to “take an introspective look” at the ideologies and rhetoric fueling hostility. “We’ve entered an era where disagreement is treated as justification for destruction,” Dillon wrote, calling for a return to civility and respect for free expression.
The Babylon Bee’s meteoric rise has not come without conflict. Before Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, the platform suspended the outlet’s account for a satirical post mocking USA Today’s “Woman of the Year.”
Musk reinstated the account shortly after acquiring the company, rebranding Twitter as X and citing the need to restore free speech protections online.
Most recently, The Babylon Bee prevailed in a legal battle over a California law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom restricting “deep fake” images. The Bee’s lawyers argued the measure was a tool for censorship. After the court sided with the outlet, its attorney said, “The court was right to rein in California’s blatant censorship. We can’t trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates.”
The arrest of Ray comes as lawmakers sound the alarm over the intensifying climate of political hostility. Senator Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri, announced Tuesday that the Senate will hold a hearing on the surge of politically motivated attacks.
“The rise of political violence on the left is deeply disturbing and antithetical to American values,” Schmitt said. “It disturbs the free exercise of our constitutional rights and is a threat to our constitutional order.”
The hearing follows a summer marked by shocking incidents, including the murders of two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota and the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
For many, Dillon’s case serves as yet another reminder of the mounting dangers facing public figures in a nation increasingly divided by ideology—and of the pressing need to defend civil discourse before it collapses entirely.
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