Man convicted of throwing device at NC Confederate monument threatened ICE, FBI says
A criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent says a man convicted of terrorizing the public in Asheville years ago later threatened a police officer involved in that case and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Duncan Andrew Small was indicted on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on March 31, according to federal court records.
In 2022, Asheville police arrested Small and said he threw improvised explosive devices “similar to pipe bombs” at a Confederate monument’s remains during a July Fourth celebration.
The FBI agent’s account says that Small was sentenced to 12 months of probation after he was convicted of two misdemeanor charges in that incident: possession of pyrotechnics and going armed to the terror of the public.
He has landed in new trouble, according to the FBI agent’s account.
Small sent a text message to an Asheville Police Department bomb technician involved in the case that warned the bomb technician had “f***ed up” in February 2024, according to the filing. Small included a picture that showed a police officer being shot in the head, the filing said, which was captioned “SPEAK TO COPS IN A LANGUAGE THEY UNDERSTAND.”
Since President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown started, Small has also threatened ICE agents online, the filing said.
“I think we should start shooting at ICE,” the FBI alleged he wrote in one online post. “They are the tyrants that 2A is calling for. Calling a human being ‘illegal’ makes you the tyrant that 2A is for. Block me.”
In another post, the filing said, he wrote: “The more police (expletive) around, the more radicalized we become. The more ICE (expletive) around, the more radicalized we become. The more the system (expletive) around, the more radicalized we become. Do you really want to find out?”
His case is being prosecuted in Florida, where he lives, according to the filing.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 12:28 PM.