Nurse Malinda Rose Cook Fired After Posting TikTok Videos Urging Harm Against ICE Agents [VIDEO]

A Virginia nurse anesthetist has been fired after posting a series of TikTok videos in which she encouraged medical providers and protesters to harm U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, hospital officials confirmed.

Malinda Rose Cook, a certified registered nurse anesthetist at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health in Richmond, was terminated following an internal investigation into the now-deleted videos, which surfaced amid rising national tensions over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

Cook shared the videos under the username Redheadredemption, where she outlined what she described as “sabotage” or “scare tactics” targeting ICE agents. In one clip, she urged medical professionals to fill syringes with saline or succinylcholine, a powerful paralytic drug, and use them against agents as a deterrent.

“Grab some syringes with needles on the end. Have them full of saline or succinylcholine — whatever,” Cook said in one video that appeared to have been filmed from a hospital setting.

In additional clips, Cook suggested mixing poison ivy into water guns and spraying agents’ faces and hands, as well as using dating apps to meet ICE officers and spike their drinks with laxatives to incapacitate them. She encouraged making agents’ “lives miserable” by targeting their hotels and food sources, claiming the actions would be “easily deniable.”

The videos gained widespread attention after being reposted on X by Libs of TikTok, prompting public outrage and swift action by VCU Health. The hospital initially placed Cook on administrative leave before confirming her termination.

“Following an investigation, the individual involved in the social media videos is no longer employed by VCU Health,” the hospital said in a statement. “The content was highly inappropriate and does not align with our mission or values. We prioritize the health and safety of anyone who comes to us for care.”

VCU Health added that it fulfilled all Virginia state reporting requirements and involved VCU police in the matter. As of Wednesday, no criminal charges have been announced, though Cook has reportedly been referred to local law enforcement.

Legal analyst Russ Stone told WRIC that Cook could potentially face charges related to solicitation of a felony offense.

“It’s even more surprising because she’s in the healthcare field, where the Hippocratic Oath says, ‘First, do no harm,’” Stone said. “She’s clearly not following her oath.”

Succinycholine, the drug Cook referenced, is used briefly in controlled medical settings to paralyze muscles during intubation and surgery. Medical experts warn that misuse outside a clinical environment can be extremely dangerous and potentially fatal.

The incident comes amid heightened national scrutiny following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis ICU nurse and protest observer, by an ICE officer earlier this month. Pretti’s death has intensified concerns among activists who claim protesters are being monitored or labeled as domestic threats.

Cook’s firing also follows another recent controversy involving a nurse. Just days earlier, Alexis “Lexie” Lawler, a labor and delivery nurse in Boca Raton, Florida, was fired after posting TikTok videos wishing severe childbirth injuries on White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is pregnant.

As tensions continue to rise nationwide over immigration enforcement, hospital systems and employers have increasingly moved to distance themselves from inflammatory social media activity by staff.