The family of a Milwaukee immigrant falsely accused by federal officials of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump filed a $5.5 million claim against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday, saying the government damaged their lives with a lie it published after investigators had already concluded it wasn’t true.
Ramón Morales Reyes, 56, was arrested by ICE agents on May 22, 2025, after a series of handwritten letters threatening to shoot Trump at a political rally were sent to federal and Wisconsin officials. Six days later, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a press release identifying Morales Reyes as the author, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. DHS posted his photograph on X that same day; the White House Instagram account later republished his image alongside the forged letter.
Investigators had already found strong reasons before the announcement to doubt Morales Reyes had written anything. Prosecutors documented he “does not read, write, or fluently speak English,” and a handwriting comparison produced no match. A Milwaukee Police Department officer who also works with the FBI signed an affidavit stating he did not believe Morales Reyes had authored the threat.
The letters were actually written by Demetric Scott, a Milwaukee man who had robbed and stabbed Morales Reyes in 2023 and was awaiting trial on those charges. Investigators obtained jail calls in which Scott outlined the scheme: he wanted Morales Reyes picked up by ICE so the criminal case against Scott would collapse. “And the judge will agree ’cause if he gets picked up by ICE, there won’t be a jury trial so they will probably dismiss it that day,” Scott said in one of those calls. “That’s my plan.”
Scott was convicted of identity theft and witness intimidation and sentenced in February to more than 16 years in prison. Morales Reyes, who has three children who are U.S. citizens, still faces deportation proceedings. The original DHS press release remained online as of Friday — a small disclaimer noting he “is no longer under investigation for threats against the President” appended to the bottom, the false accusation otherwise intact.
At Friday’s press conference, immigration attorney Caine Oulahan said law enforcement had determined the letter likely wasn’t from his client before Noem’s announcement went out. “And after they determined it was likely not him, it was still published,” Oulahan told reporters.
The family said the government’s posts left lasting harm. “He’s been going through depression, anxiety, he doesn’t like going out anymore because he feels like everyone knows him due to what he was framed as,” said Ana Morales, 25, his daughter, speaking at the press conference. Her brother, 20-year-old Antonio Morales, said the social media posts had made their father appear to be “some sort of assassin” and said he believes officials acted deliberately: “They wanted to do this to more immigrants, and they really want to keep terrorizing the community going forward.”
Attorney Mark Thomsen, who also sits on the Wisconsin Elections Commission, framed the suit as a test of government accountability. “They knew it was a lie, and they still haven’t taken it down,” he said. “They haven’t thought for a second about apologizing.” DHS did not respond to requests for comment.
The case arrives as ICE enforcement in Wisconsin has climbed sharply. A Wisconsin Watch data analysis found the number of arrests jumped from at least 119 in May 2025 to 220 in June, concentrated in the southeastern part of the state, and more than 2,100 people have been detained in Wisconsin since the start of Trump’s second term. Erin Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School, told WPR the surge has left residents afraid of being “picked up off the street without having done anything wrong, just living their lives, going to work, taking their children to school.”