A series of now-deleted TikTok videos posted by a Virginia nurse has triggered a serious investigation and renewed concerns about the radicalization of political rhetoric bleeding into professional spaces that demand public trust.
The videos, which circulated widely before being removed, showed the nurse explicitly encouraging acts of sabotage and physical harm against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, using methods that ranged from reckless to potentially lethal.
Meet Melinda, a healthcare worker at @VCUHealth. She posted a series of videos encouraging people to inject ICE agents with succinylocholine, a temporary paralysis drug, and spray poison on them. She also encourages woman to go on dates with agents and drug their food.
Any… pic.twitter.com/CMJN12GhOc
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 27, 2026
The nurse, who operated under the TikTok handle “Redheadredemption,” appeared in multiple clips outlining tactics she claimed medical professionals and civilians could use to interfere with ICE operations.
In one video, she urged doctors and nurses to carry syringes filled with saline or succinylcholine, a powerful paralytic agent commonly used in controlled medical settings, suggesting that injecting agents would serve as a “deterrent.” The casual tone with which the drug was referenced—“whatever, whatever”—stood in stark contrast to the real-world dangers associated with its misuse, including respiratory paralysis and death.
In other videos, the nurse escalated her rhetoric further. Wearing medical scrubs, she proposed soaking poison ivy in water and loading the solution into water guns to spray ICE agents in the face. In a separate post, she encouraged single women to seek out ICE agents on dating apps such as Tinder or Hinge, then secretly dose their drinks with laxatives during dates to incapacitate them. She framed the suggestion as “easily deniable” and emphasized making agents’ lives “miserable,” while minimizing the seriousness of poisoning someone without consent.
UPDATE: she’s on leave https://t.co/FAyg3d8Lc6
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 27, 2026
Additional comments included calls for hotel staff to hide dead fish in ICE agents’ rooms, underscoring a broader pattern of harassment that blurred the line between protest and criminal conduct. Across the videos, the common thread was not policy critique or lawful dissent, but an explicit endorsement of covert attacks on individuals based on their profession.
Virginia Commonwealth University Health, identified as the nurse’s employer, confirmed that it has opened an investigation in coordination with VCU Police. In a statement, the health system emphasized that the content was “highly inappropriate” and fundamentally at odds with its values. The nurse has been placed on administrative leave and barred from patient interaction while the investigation proceeds.
