From Anti-Semitic Conspiracy to Custody: Man Arrested for Threats Based on Lies About Kirk Assassination
On October 12, Seth Dillon, owner and CEO of The Babylon Bee, received a death threat from an anonymous X user that accused him of conspiring in an assassination. The message was violent, specific, and chilling enough to trigger an immediate law enforcement response.
You’re in on it too b***h don’t think we forgot. Conspired with foreign govt about killing Charlie we f***ing know you did b***h. We’re gonna get you I promise maybe not today or tomorrow but you’re living on borrowed time and you know it.
Florida authorities tracked the post to Nicholas Ray of Spring, TX, and on the latest update he is being held for extradition to Florida on criminal charges. Ray, 28, faces allegations that include extortion and written threats to kill.
“Ray is now in custody and will be extradited to Florida to face charges of extortion, written threats to kill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device,” Uthmeier wrote on X.
Dillon was not the only target; investigators say Ray also posted threats aimed at Laura Loomer and Josh Hammer. Multiple public figures were dragged into the same baseless stew of accusation, and the pattern points to a single root: false narratives amplified online.
“Where do you think [Nicholas Ray] got the idea that I was involved in Charlie’s murder?” Dillon asked. That question lands at the center of how dangerous lies morph into criminal acts. A few loud insinuations can seed obsession in unstable people.
It’s no coincidence that Ray followed five accounts on X, including Candace Owens, suggesting he was consuming a certain set of talking points before he lashed out. High-profile commentary can have unintended consequences when it drifts from critique into suggestion, and reckless theories about motive or blame can be weaponized by fringe followers.
Candace Owens has repeatedly claimed that “pro-Israel” people were pressuring Kirk to change his stance on Israel, claiming that Bill Ackman, Seth Dillon, and others met with Kirk at a Hamptons event to hold an “intervention” with Kirk.
Candace Owens, a prominent right-wing podcaster and former communications director at Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization that Kirk founded, made the most explosive claims.
On Monday, she alleged that billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman—a vocal supporter of Israel—had staged an “intervention” in the Hamptons weeks prior, pressuring Kirk to “get in line” with unwavering support for Israel during which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called him. She said that Kirk was offered “a ton of money” to stick to a pro-Israel stance because he had been “falling out of love with Israel” and was “on the brink of changing some of his perspectives” about the Gaza war.
Owens framed these allegations, which Newsweek is unable to verify, as critical questions that others were afraid to ask. Ackman has strenuously denied specific claims of an “intervention,” as have others, including Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, who were at the Hamptons event, which they nonetheless confirmed had taken place.
Tucker Carlson also said that Kirk’s views on Israel were “evolving,” according to Newsweek. During his eulogy at Charlie Kirk’s September 21 memorial, Carlson likened Kirk to Jesus and made allusions to the trope that Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus.
“It’s about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and Jesus shows up, and he starts talking about the people in power, and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do: just telling the truth about people,” Carlson said. “And they hate it, and they just go bonkers. They hate it, and they become obsessed with making him stop. ‘This guy’s got to stop talking. We’ve got to shut this guy up.'”
Dillon has said he is thankful Florida law enforcement took the threats seriously and moved quickly to arrest the suspect. That professional response matters, because online menace needs offline enforcement to prevent escalation.
Although neither Owens nor Carlson has explicitly accused Israel of ordering an assassination, the implications and innuendo have circulated enough to radicalize a small but dangerous subset of followers. Unfounded conspiracies can push someone from outrage to action, and this arrest illustrates that chain.
This case includes Nicholas Ray, who now faces real charges for taking online slander and turning it into criminal threats against real people.
