El Paso man arrested after threatening to kill 200 BLM protesters
Manuel Flores was arrested after posting a profane YouTube video with a gun in the background
While most people have lauded peaceful protesters who are asking for police to change behavior and policies in the wake of the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, others have seen them as a threat.
READ MORE: NC Republican calls Black Lives Matter protesters ‘thugs’ and ‘vermin’
El Paso’s Manuel Flores, 42, is now in jail after he posted a video to YouTube threatening to kill 200 Black Lives Matter protesters. Flores posted the video, which only shows him from the knees down, with an AR-15 rifle and titled it “N***ers Lives Matters.”
According to KVIA.com, in the video Flores said that his dream was to take out at least 200 n****ers. He taunted police by saying he would be traveling to do so on Interstate 20 through Dallas and dared BLM protesters to stop him.
“I’m pissed, I’m tired and I’m ready,” the man now identified as Flores says.
Flores is a truck driver in the El Paso area and was scheduled to make a delivery in the Dallas suburb of Irving, according to the El Paso Times.
He told police he was drunk when he made the video and didn’t remember what it said. Flores deleted the video after identifying himself as the account holder, the complaint says.
A man holds a picture of George Floyd during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 18, 2020 in New York City. Protesters plan to mark Juneteenth with demonstrations against racism and police brutality planned in cities across the country. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
“Flores stated that he loves America and is upset about what is going on right now. However, Flores has no intention of harming anyone but would defend himself if he had to. Flores was remorseful and apologetic to interviewing FBI Special Agents,” the complaint added.
Instead, federal agents arrested him in the Dallas area. Flores is charged with transmitting threatening communications that can carry up to a five-year sentence.
Protests have been held in all 50 states after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Taylor and Floyd galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement. Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day was recorded by a bystander.
READ MORE: South Carolina school employee fired after saying protesters should ‘go back to Africa’
It showed four now-former Minneapolis police officers applying pressure on Floyd as he lay handcuffed on the street. Derek Chauvin, the officer who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost 9 minutes has been charged with second-degree murder. The three other officers have been charged as accessories.
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