A 27-year-old Utah man who allegedly threatened to shoot and kill police officers is now facing several charges.
According to a news release from West Valley police, the suspect made “multiple threats of violence against ... Salt Lake City Police and West Valley City Police ... over social media.” Police said the suspect threatened to use guns and “encouraged others to take up arms against police” — even “reportedly” listing “the names and addresses of specific officers to be targeted.”
Working with the FBI, WVCPD officers stopped a car in which the suspect was riding outside his home. Police found four guns in the car — including an AK-47 and an Uzi with a silencer attached — and “numerous” rounds of ammunition.
According to a probable cause statement, the suspect made “threatening social media posts on Snapchat,” including one that showed him holding a handgun, and “multiple” threatening posts on Facebook. Police wrote that the suspect posted a video of himself “mocking the Salt Lake City curfew” and saying “he was going to ‘kill you n------'” and “F--- pigs.” The arresting officer wrote that he had observed police officers being called the n-word “regardless of their race,” leading him to believe the suspect “was threatening to kill police officers.”
According to the probable cause statement, the suspect posted on Facebook that he had access to guns and knew how to find police officers’ home addresses. Among the suspect’s threats was one aimed at an officer who lives in his neighborhood; another that his “AR” was going to “find you from a distance” and he "would make … highlight tapes out of all of you”; and “if pigs start to drop the more the better.”
When the suspect was arrested, he “admitted” he was on his way to Monday’s protest in Salt Lake City, according to the probable cause statement. He “denied wanting to shoot police officers, but admitted his Facebook posts were intended to incite people” and that his posts “could lead to people getting hurt.”
The suspect has been charged in 3rd District Court with making a terroristic threat, a second-degree felony; drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors.
