Left: Tristan Langston (Lubbock County Jail). Right: Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, walk with the hearse carrying flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool).
A Texas man hurled death threats at two Secret Service agents and their families — saying he would “slit” their throats — after he “became angry” with them for investigating an alleged statement he made about assassinating Barack Obama.
“2nd Amendment in full effect,” wrote Tristan Langston, 37, in a February 2025 post on X, formerly Twitter. The Lubbock man was convicted last Thursday of transmitting threats in interstate commerce and threatening a federal law enforcement officer after being arrested and charged in March, the Department of Justice reported.
Court transcripts and documents filed by federal prosecutors outline how Langston allegedly threatened former President Obama on social media in June 2023, leading to a probe of his comment by two Secret Service agents.
“I”m going to kill former President Barack Obama and any security element of his,” Langston allegedly said. Langston was ultimately not charged with threatening to kill Obama after it was determined that he did not pose a true threat to the former president or his security detail. But that didn’t stop Langston from retaliating on social media, according to prosecutors.
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“According to evidence presented during trial, on February 21, 2025, Langston posted a message to X.com … criticizing two U.S. Secret Service agents and then declaring, ‘2nd Amendment in full effect. Gonna slit the throats of agents and their families,” the DOJ said Monday in a press release. “Evidence in the case revealed that Langston’s statements went well beyond mere political rhetoric or bluster and constituted true threats directed at specific federal agents,” the department charged.
Throughout his trial, jurors heard evidence that Langston — who identified himself on X under the username “17” — “became angry with the two specific Secret Service agents” after they investigated the alleged Obama threat.
After targeting one of the agents and his family in his online posts, Langston “memorialized the anger and resentment he harbored against the agents in videos and notes he maintained on his cellphone over a period of years,” per the DOJ. Court testimony showed that Langston knew the agents would perceive his threat as “retaliation for their investigation,” but he went through with it anyway, according to prosecutors.
“Under his username 17, [Langston] referenced his encounter with Secret Service in June 2023 and claimed that Secret Service agents threatened to kill him,” his federal complaint said. Langston also harbored hate for the agency for what he described as “covering up attacks against America in the Homeland and overseas,” per the complaint.
In addition to threats, Langston was also known to post “conspiracy theories” online about the government allegedly covering up terror events. He attempted to contact the Secret Service about the conspiracies but said on X that he was “blown off” by them.
“We commend the jury’s decision in finding Tristan Langston guilty of threatening to kill United States Secret Service agents and their families,” said Christina Foley, deputy special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service Dallas Field Office, in a statement Monday.
“Targeting federal agents and their families with threats of violence is not protected speech — it is a federal crime,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson.  “This verdict reaffirms our office’s commitment to take all threats seriously and to hold accountable those who try to intimidate and terrorize our law enforcement partners.”
Langston, who faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 6.
