Crime & Safety
FL Man Wrote Threatening Post Against ‘No Kings’ Protesters
A Dunedin man admitted to writing a social media post threatening to run over "No Kings" protesters, reports said.
DUNEDIN, FL — A Pinellas County man was arrested after making threatening comments against protesters at Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies on social media, according to multiple reports.
Eloy Garcia, 64, was arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and charged with making threatening communications or threats of mass shooting, a second-degree felony.
The protests against President Donald Trump and his administration coincided with a military parade in Washington, D.C., commemorating the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary that fell on Trump’s 79th birthday.
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See Also:
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“I'm spending so much money on gas driving around just looking and hoping to run across blockading protesters or people crossing the street with signs saying don't deport our illegals so I can just run them over I carry a couple of bricks and molotov cocktails so I can put in their hands like a throw down weapon lol,” Garcia posted to Facebook on Friday, according to Fox 13.
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A person who saw the post and was concerned that he might carry out the threat reported it to law enforcement, ABC Action News reported.
He admitted to making the post during an interview with investigators.
Garcia’s social media threat came after Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that drivers who felt threatened by protesters were allowed to defend themselves under an anti-riot law that went into effect in 2021.
Ahead of the demonstrations, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey also threatened protesters who might become violent during them.
"If you throw a brick, a fire bomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at, because we will kill you. Graveyard, dead. We're not going to play, this has got to stop," he said during a Thursday news conference.
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