FBI Director Kash Patel, or a person managing his X account, posted, deleted and later reposted an announcement about the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan.
Patel, or someone managing his account, deleted the message. However, he later posted the same message once more. Social media posts displaying screenshots of Patel’s deleted post indicated he made the original post at 10:11 a.m. EDT, deleted it sometime prior to 10:44 and then posted the same message again at 12:11 p.m.
On April 25, 2025, X users claimed FBI Director Kash Patel deleted a post announcing the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan. For example, Aaron Parnas, a popular user who provides TikTok users with breaking news alerts — including about Dugan’s arrest — posted on X, “Why did Kash Patel delete this?” Many other users also asked about Patel purportedly deleting a post.
(@AaronParnas/X)
It’s true that Patel, or someone else with access to his account, deleted the in-question post about Dugan’s arrest. Then, exactly two hours after the creation of the original post, the same message appeared again in a new post (archived) on Patel’s account.
The link to the deleted post on Patel’s official FBI X account, @FBIDirectorKash — shared in reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — displayed the message, “Sorry, that post has been deleted.” An examination of others users’ posts (archived) and (archived) numerous (archived) screenshots (archived) showing Patel’s deleted message indicated he, or someone managing his account, made the original post at 10:11 a.m. EDT, deleted it at some point prior to 10:44 and then posted (archived) the same message again at 12:11 p.m.
Regarding Dugan’s arrest, in a news release Snopes received via email, Milwaukee County Circuit Court District 1 Chief Judge Carl Ashley said, in part: “The judicial code of conduct restricts judges from commenting on pending or impending matters in any court. Judge Dugan’s court calendar will be covered by another judge as needed.”
The FBI did not yet respond to an email asking about the deleted post, nor did Parnas return a general request for comment.
Patel’s post announcing Dugan’s arrest
In Patel’s post, he said the FBI arrested Dugan “on charges of obstruction,” alleging evidence showed that, in the prior week, she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away” from being able to arrest a migrant, whose name Patel said was Eduardo Flores Ruiz, in her courthouse. The post read:
Just NOW, the FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction — after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week.
We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.
Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot and he’s been in custody since, but the Judge’s obstruction created increased danger to the public.
We will have more to share soon. Excellent work @FBIMilwaukee.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi also posted (archived) on X about Dugan’s arrest, writing, “I can confirm that our @FBI agents just arrested Hannah Dugan – a county judge in Milwaukee – for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid an arrest by @ICEgov. No one is above the law.”
As of this writing, President Donald Trump had only shared (archived) on his Truth Social account a screenshot of another user posting about Dugan’s arrest. He added no additional comment above the screenshot.
The charges against Dugan
The Associated Press reported further details, citing U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron as saying Dugan’s arrest occurred the morning of April 25 on courthouse grounds. Snopes contacted the U.S. Department of Justice to confirm these details but did not yet receive a response.
The AP published Dugan’s charges as concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest, as well as obstructing or impeding a proceeding:
[Dugan] appeared briefly in federal court in Milwaukee later Friday before being released from custody. Her next court appearance is May 15.
“Judge Dugan wholeheartedly regrets and protests her arrest. It was not made in the interest of public safety,” her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, said during the hearing. He declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter following her court appearance.
Dugan is charged with “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest” and obstructing or impeding a proceeding. She’s accused of escorting the man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, and his lawyer out of the courtroom through the jury door on April 18 as a way to help avert his arrest, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.
More details about Flores-Ruiz
Days before Dugan’s arrest, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported about Flores-Ruiz’s arrest, spelling his last name with a hyphen. Snopes did not yet find credible information to confirm whether the man in question hyphenates his name. The reporting from April 23 said:
Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 30, is listed as being in ICE custody at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, according to the federal online detainee locator system. State records show Flores-Ruiz, a native of Mexico, appeared before Dugan for a pre-trial conference early on April 18 on three misdemeanor counts of battery.
The FBI is now looking into whether Dugan tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after that person appeared in her courtroom last week. Officials have not yet identified the defendant, but Flores-Ruiz appears to match the description. It is not clear what his legal status is.
A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not yet respond to an email requesting any available documentation about Flores-Ruiz’s legal status.
Wisconsin governor issues statement about arrest
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, published a statement regarding Dugan’s arrest on his official government website, without mentioning her by name:
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today released the following statement regarding the arrest of a Milwaukee County judge:
“In this country, people who are suspected of criminal wrongdoing are innocent until their guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt and they are found guilty by a jury of their peers—this is the fundamental demand of justice in America.
“Unfortunately, we have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level, including flat-out disobeying the highest court in the land and threatening to impeach and remove judges who do not rule in their favor.
“I have deep respect for the rule of law, our nation’s judiciary, the importance of judges making decisions impartially without fear or favor, and the efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime. I will continue to put my faith in our justice system as this situation plays out in the court of law.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and AP are providing continuing coverage of this breaking news story, including details of the sequence of events occurring on April 18 involving federal agents’ attempts to arrest Flores-Ruiz.