Texas man threatens BLM protesters with AR-15 nearby in YouTube video, officials say
A Texas man faces federal charges after threatening Black Lives Matter protesters in a YouTube video, officials say.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas says 42-year-old Manuel Flores, of El Paso, was arrested Monday in Dallas.
The arrest comes after he posted a video to YouTube last week entitled “N----- Lives Matter,” in which he threatened protesters with an AR-15 rifle resting at his feet, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The FBI received a tip June 13 about the video from a person in Estonia, according to the criminal complaint.
Protests have occurred throughout the country after George Floyd died while in police custody May 25 in Minneapolis. He died after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, as three other officers didn’t intervene. The four officers involved were all fired and criminally charged.
Some of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, which have spread from Minneapolis to across the nation, have included clashes between protesters and police, thefts, fires and other unrest.
The violence and thefts involve much smaller groups at mostly peaceful gatherings, authorities say. The vast majority of the protesters across the nation have been “peaceful demonstrators calling for change,” law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Flores was only visible from the knees down in the video, the complaint states. He said he would be traveling to Dallas on Monday and dared individuals associated with Black Lives Matter to “stop him,” officials say.
“My dream is to take out at least 200 n------,” Flores said in his YouTube video, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. He said he had “500 rounds of something.”
“Stop me. I’m pissed and I’m tired and I’m ready,” Flores said, according to the criminal complaint.
Flores was met by FBI personnel at his El Paso home at 3 a.m. Sunday and confirmed he made the video after drinking eight or nine beers, court records show. He deleted the video in front of FBI agents, the complaint says.
He spoke with a southern accent in the video, but he did not speak with that dialect when speaking with FBI officials
Flores is a truck driver who was scheduled for a delivery in west Texas on Monday, the complaint states. Sunday afternoon, Flores told FBI officials over the phone he would be staying overnight in the Cisco area for a delivery the next day in the Dallas suburb Irving.
An arrest warrant was issued Sunday night for Flores and he was arrested without incident in Dallas on Monday. Flores was charged with one count of transmitting threatening communications, for which he faces up to five years in federal prison, the attorney’s office stated.
Flores will be transferred to El Paso, officials said. The FBI is investigating the case.