(The Hill) – Comedian Theo Von said a “high government official” offered him security amid backlash he received for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) featuring him in a video it used to promote deportation efforts.
Recounting online harassment he received over the video during Thursday’s episode of the “This Past Weekend” podcast, Von said he was growing “paranoid” and even closed the curtains in his house.
“I woke up the next morning to a text from a high government official saying, ‘Hey, if you need some extra security in your neighborhood, or some extra police cars on patrol, let me know,’” Von recounted. “And I’m like, what? What are you talking about?”
The video, which the department posted on Sept. 23 to its various social media platforms, showed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials detaining immigrants and Von saying, “I heard you got deported, dude. Bye.”
Von, in a since-deleted post on the social platform X the same day, said, “Yooo DHS i didnt approve to be used in this. I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos,” in response to the video.
The video was taken down on Sept. 25, although it was unclear whether it was done so by DHS or X.
On Thursday, Von said one of his “prized possessions” are his father’s immigration papers when he came to the U.S. from Nicaragua. He added that he has “a lot of thoughts” on immigration, and called DHS’s “bookkeeping efforts” a sign that the U.S. is a “surveillance state.” In his since-deleted X post from September, Von also wrote that his “thoughts and heart are alot more nuanced” than the DHS video portrayed.
“Everyone is [going to] have to be on the books,” Von said on his podcast on Thursday. “That’s where I believe that we’re headed.”
Von did not clarify which government agency the official who texted him belonged to. The Hill has reached out to the DHS for comment.
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