New York man found not guilty of threatening feds – after he drank ’48 beers’ and said he’d kill any ICE agent who knocked on his door

Spring Valley, New York man Brallan Perez Alarcon has escaped jail after an incident in September 2025 in which he drunkenly called local police and told them that if any ICE agents knocked on his front door he’d shoot and kill them.

As per a report in the Westchester Journal News, cops said he told them how much he hated ICE: “He then said that if those (expletive) ICE agents knock on his door, “he’s gonna get shot, he’s gonna get killed.”” Cops called Perez Alarcon back to ask him if he was serious, and he repeated his threat, confirming he could get a gun if he needed to.

The cops notified ICE of this threat, and Alarcon was soon arrested and detained after being deemed a flight risk.

Alarcon was then charged in U.S. District Court with one count of threatening to assault and murder federal law enforcement officers, with intent to impede, intimidate, or retaliate. If convicted, he faced a potential penalty of up to 10 years behind bars.

The trial took place this week, with jurors hearing Perez Alarcon testify that he’d consumed “at least” 48 beers while watching social media videos of ICE activity. He said he was so drunk he had no memory of making the calls, but on hearing the recordings said they were “horrible” and that he was “ashamed” of his words.

“He tried to start a political conversation”

Perez Alarcon’s defense lawyer, Elizabeth Quinn, argued her client was so drunk “no reasonable person” would have taken his threats seriously. She told jurors: “He tried to start a political conversation and lost his inhibitions and said something stupid.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Isabelle Lelogeais argued that this was a serious offense, and that while Alarcon has a constitutional right to criticize and insult ICE, “we’re here because he threatened to shoot and kill law enforcement. That’s not protected free speech; that’s a crime.”

The jury disagreed, going on to acquit Alarcon of threatening to assault and murder federal law enforcement officers and rendering moot a defense motion to dismiss the charges. The prosecution declined to comment on the not guilty verdict, though it remains unclear whether Alarcon has actually been released from custody.

He may not be out of the woods yet, though. The article reports that the Attorney’s office has identified the Guatemalan-born Perez Alarcon as an undocumented alien, though in one of the phone calls played in court he claims to have been a United States citizen who’s been in the country for 25 years.