Photo taken from Hansel Lopez LinkedIn profile.
Hansel Lopez, a volunteer Disc Jockey on WUML in Lowell, is no longer on the airwaves following a Bluesky post threatening Vice President JD Vance. The story was first reported by FOX News late this morning.
The comment in question, made in response to another post on the social media platform, was discovered ten days ago.
“On Friday, January 2, UMass Lowell was alerted to a post to the personal Bluesky account of a volunteer DJ at the student-run radio station WUML suggesting violence directed toward the vice president of the United States,” a UMass Lowell spokesperson wrote in a statement to InsideLowell this afternoon. “The university determined the individual who made the post was an alumni volunteer contributor to the station who is not a current student. UMass Lowell police promptly coordinated with the FBI, Secret Service and Haverhill police the same day to ensure an appropriate response. Contact was made with the individual in question, and the necessary assessments were conducted in collaboration with federal partners. Authorities confirmed there was no immediate threat.”
The exchange is reported to have started with another Bluesky user posting that “JD VANCE THINKS BRITAIN & FRANCE ARE AMERICAS [sic] LIKELY ENEMIES,” to which Lopez apparently replied “It’s simple, we kill JD Vance.”
While the Fox News story only reported the Bluesky account name hanslopez.bsky.social, InsideLowell has been able to confirm Hansel Lopez is the individual in question. His social media profiles list him as a resident of Haverhill, necessitating that department’s involvement in the incident.
“UMass Lowell takes seriously any threat of violence involving our community,” the University’s statement continued. “Statements such as the post in question are inconsistent with the values of our democracy and our university. UMass Lowell is appreciative to the Fox News Digital reporter who made us aware of the post. The individual in question has since resigned from his volunteer role at WUML and removed the post from his Bluesky account.”
It is unclear from the initial news report whether Lopez faces any charges.
