Daniel Larson's Federal Arrest

Submission 7,224

Part of a series on Daniel Larson. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Daniel Larson's Federal Arrest, also known as Daniel Larson Federal Charges, refers to the federal arrest of lolcow TikToker Daniel Larson in late April 2024. Larson was charged with seven counts, consisting of six counts of "Use or Threatened Use of Explosive" and one count of "Interstate Communication of Threats." Larson had been arrested by local Colorado authorities multiple times in late 2023 and early 2024, however, Larson's federal charges were the most severe which, if convicted, had the potential of putting Larson in jail for multiple decades. Discourse and reactions to Larson's federal arrest surfaced across social media sites like TikTok and Reddit, among others. Many shared Larson's mugshot and posted memes about Federal Agent Daniel MacDougall who was tasked with Larson's case and arrest.

Background

On April 30th, 2024, Daniel Larson was booked at Clear Creek County Jail in Georgetown, Colorado after being arrested by federal agents. On the day, Redditors^[1] in the /r/Daniellarson subreddit unearthed his custody record (shown below) using the website Vinelink.^[2]

On May 2nd, Redditor^[3] OkraWinfrey unearthed Larson's federal indictment documents, sharing the PDF to the website Scribd.^[4] On page one of the shorter indictment document (shown below), it was shown that Larson was charged with seven federal counts related to "Use or Threatened Use of Explosive" and one count of "Interstate Communication of Threats." It was also shown that the federal agent assigned to the case was FBI Agent Daniel MacDougall.

Redditor^[5] Extension_Nerve_1947 shared a post to /r/Daniellarson on May 2nd, 2024, that was part four of their series "Everything you need to know about Danny in jail" in which they linked a Google Sheets^[6] document called the "Danny Threat Tracker." The spreadsheet compiled every alleged threat Larson had made on social media, predominantly on TikTok and YouTube via YouTube Community Posts.

For example, a month prior, on April 9th, X^[7] user @SubToOptimus tweeted a video of Larson repeatedly shouting, "Bomb you!" (shown below).

Prior Arrests

Before Larson's federal indictment in late April 2024, he'd already been arrested multiple times by various sheriff's departments in Colorado. The slew of arrests started in July 2023, when Larson was arrested at a Walmart in Colorado, resulting in his first-ever court hearing.

Shortly after, in September 2023, Larson was arrested again on the campus of the University of Colorado-Boulder. In the following months, Larson was arrested after the "Olive Garden Incident" and again in Aurora, Colorado after he failed to appear at court hearings.

Agent Daniel MacDougall

In August 2023, FBI Agent Daniel MacDougall made contact with Daniel Larson. On August 20th, 2023, Redditor^[8] tewblants posted a screenshot of Larson's then-recent Instagram Story, showing Daniel MacDougall's business card in Larson's possession (shown below, left).

On August 29th, Redditor^[9] Capital_Detective735 shared a screenshot that Larson purportedly took on his phone, showing messages with Agent MacDougall (whom he nicknamed "McDoogle" in his contacts). The messages showed that he was meeting with Agent MacDougall (shown below, right).

Initially, some users in the /r/Daniellarson subreddit believed that Agent McDougall was a troll and likely someone in Larson's "management" who was manipulating him. However, when users saw that Federal Agent Daniel MacDougall was listed as the primary agent on Larson's indictment,^[4] posts about MacDougall surfaced, including photos of him posted to Reddit^[9]^[10] (shown below).

Online Reactions

After it was revealed that Larson was arrested on federal charges in late April 2024, internet users reacted en masse via memes and viral videos. For instance, on May 1st, 2024, Redditor^[11] H0td0gwat3r10 posted a meme with Greta Thunberg holding a "Free Daniel Larson school walkout" sign, gaining over 140 upvotes in two days (shown below, left).

On May 2nd, X^[12] user @ytnicknobody tweeted a photo of Larson (from X^[7] user @SubToOptimus's video), captioned, "Daniel is facing up to 60 years right now lmfao." The post gained over 3,300 likes in a day (shown below, right).

Also on May 2nd, 2024, X^[13] user @bumpmap tweeted a screenshot of two YouTube Community Posts from Larson that recited threats, receiving over 13,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).

On Reddit, many shared memes that idolized Agent Daniel MacDougall, such as Redditor^[14] cynical_waiter on May 2nd, who joked about Larson's "Discord the last six months," showing the How Do You Do Fellow Kids? meme with MacDougall's face. The post earned over 120 upvotes in a day (shown below, right).

Later on May 2nd, 2024, TikToker^[15] @noahglenncarter posted a video covering Larson's federal arrest, receiving over 1.7 million plays and 222,300 likes in a day (shown below).