Chicago City Wire

Moisés Bernal Puentes, an adult education manager at Wilbur Wright College, is facing public backlash after a video surfaced showing him calling for violence against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a protest in Grant Park.

Puentes delivered the remarks at the Oct. 18 “No Kings” rally, an event opposing President Trump’s immigration policies and actions by federal law enforcement.

“You gotta grab a gun! We gotta turn around the guns on this fascist system!” Puentes said in the video. “These ICE agents gotta get shot and wiped out! This state, this state machinery, that's a full display right there, has to get wiped out!”

Calling for the murder of federal agents, whether directly or by urging others to act, is a federal crime. Such speech is not protected by the First Amendment if it constitutes a true threat or incitement to imminent lawless action. Soliciting violence against federal agents can lead to federal charges that carry fines and imprisonment.

A resume allegedly belonging to Puentes was posted on X after the video circulated. It lists a 2015 Ph.D. in marine science from the University of Texas at Austin and recent experience as an assistant professor at Auburn University. 

The resume also lists prior research posts in Panama and Saudi Arabia and affiliation with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Calls for disciplinary action and a law enforcement investigation mounted after the video spread online, and several prominent X accounts helped identify Puentes.

“Why is @ChiCityColleges employing violent lunatics who call for m*rder??” Libs of TikTok posted.

Glockford Files posted that Puentes “needs to be fired immediately” and “He needs to be arrested immediately.”

Right Angle News Network urged followers to contact the school.

“Ask the school if this man represents them. Moises is about to have a very bad day,” the account said.

As of publication, City Colleges of Chicago had not issued a public response to the video or confirmed whether Puentes remains employed.

Federal officials have expressed concern that violent rhetoric at political rallies could translate into real-world attacks.

Puentes’ remarks were posted amid heightened public attention to clashes over immigration enforcement and to recent attacks on federal facilities. Law enforcement agencies and college officials typically review reported threats and may open investigations when public safety is at issue.