Elon Musk Responds To Death Threats Against DOGE Software Engineers: 'They've Broken The Law'

Elon Musk has condemned the death threats directed at DOGE software engineers, stating that those responsible have broken the law.

The revelation of Musk's team of young DOGE developers has sparked outrage from the billionaire and other MAGA figures. Among them is a 19-year-old university freshman who is also heir to a popcorn fortune. Another was involved in Model UN clubs in 2019, while a third received seed money from his parents to invest in the stock market while still in school in Silicon Valley.

Elon Musk's Response To Death Threats

The world's richest man criticised an X account (@FearNoneInc) that suggested the six young men, who now have access to the Treasury Department's payment system, should be investigated by the FBI. 'You have committed a crime,' Musk responded to a comment from the account on 3rd February, just before the post was taken down, supposedly for breaking the platform's rules.

Musk seemed to change his tune later, admitting that 'media reports saying that @DOGE has some of world's best software engineers are in fact true.' But that wasn't entirely accurate—not everyone in the group is actually a 'software engineer.'

The Young Faces Behind DOGE

According to a report, three of the developers do not hold university degrees. One who does is attempting to capitalise on his new role by charging for access to his Substack post, titled "Why DOGE: Why I Gave Up a Seven-Figure Salary to Save America."

As first reported by WIRED on Sunday, Musk's young team includes Akash Bobba, 21, a student at the University of California, Berkeley; Edward Coristine, 19, a student at Northeastern University in Boston; and Ethan Shaotran, 22, who previously told Business Insider he was a senior at Harvard.

The ones who have degrees, or at least some college experience, are Luke Farritor, 23, who attended the University of Nebraska but didn't graduate; Gautier Cole Killian, 24, who went to McGill University; and Gavin Kliger, 25, who attended Berkeley.

The group's limited experience—particularly its lack of government work—has Democrats complaining that it was given access to sensitive information while operating largely behind the scenes, shielded from public oversight.

All six have recently tried hard to erase their online presence, with nearly all of them deleting their LinkedIn profiles, X accounts, and even Facebook pages.

The Mashable Reporter And The Fallout

One of the 'journalists' who chose to reveal the identities of Trump's DOGE team is a Mashable reporter, Chance Townsend. According to an X post by @amuse, he is a recent UNT graduate who enjoys relaxing with his orange cat. After looking into the DOGE team's backgrounds, Chance Townsend found them inadequate.

'Their youth is an asset: it brings fresh perspectives, fluency in emerging technologies, and the agility to iterate rapidly in a fast-evolving space,' the X user added. Their history of tackling challenging problems, often leading the way in their fields, shows they're some of the brightest minds in the country—proving that what matters isn't age but vision, how you get things done, and the difference you make, the X user argued.

The X user concluded that the Mashable reporter is not in a position to judge these people. An image in the X post shows that Townsend has been an editor at Mashable since 2023 and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of North Texas (UNT) between 2019 and 2023.

Calls For Violence And Legal Warnings

In a follow-up post, @amuse pointed out that the Reddit group (r/WhitePeopleTwitter) is now, as a result of Townsend's actions, calling for the public execution of the DOGE software developers. In a separate post, the X user revealed that US attorney Ed Martin has warned the media, BlueSky activists, and Reddit that the Department of Justice will hold them accountable if they continue to threaten the safety of the DOGE team.

The unveiling of the young team behind the DOGE project has ignited controversy, raising questions about their qualifications and access to sensitive systems. While their youth and unconventional backgrounds have drawn criticism, Musk has strongly condemned the threats they've received.