Texas 19-year-old arrested for allegedly making threats against Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit
By Rebekah Riess, CNNUpdated: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 16:55:58 GMTSource: CNNA 19-year-old has been arrested after allegedly posting what the FBI called a "credible threat" against attendees of the Student A
By Rebekah Riess, CNNUpdated: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 16:55:58 GMT
Source: CNN
A 19-year-old has been arrested after allegedly posting what the FBI called a "credible threat" against attendees of the Student Action Summit, a conference hosted by the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA in Tampa, Florida, last month, court records show.
Alejandro Richard Velasquez of San Antonio, Texas, faces a charge of threatening interstate communications in connection to the incident, according to the criminal complaint against him. Velasquez is also charged with possession of child pornography, per the complaint, after investigators allegedly found pornographic images of minors when they executed a federal search warrant on his phone.
Velasquez was arrested on August 11, 2022, and was ordered to be held without bond by Judge Richard B. Farrer, court records show. CNN has reached out to public defenders assigned to Velasquez for comment.
Velasquez, who identifies himself online as "LatinoZoomer," made a post on Instagram that read, "July 22 is the day of retribution the day I will have revenge against all of humanity which all of you will pay for my suffering," adding, "SAS will be the turning point of the LatinoZoomer lore," the criminal complaint against Velasquez alleges.
The probable cause document notes the language mirrored that of Elliot Rodger, who made a similar statement before carrying out a deadly rampage in Isla Vista, California, in 2014, stabbing three men at his home before fatally shooting two women in front of a sorority house and a man inside a deli. Velasquez allegedly told an FBI agent later he intended to evoke Rodger by writing the message, the complaint states.
Velasquez bought a ticket to fly from Austin to Tampa, where the convention was being held, the complaint states, but he canceled his ticket the night before the flight.
Upon learning about Velasquez's Instagram post, the Tampa Police Department believed it to be a "credible threat against the participants attending the SAS conference" and obtained an arrest warrant, per the complaint.
Turning Point USA works "to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government," according to the mission statement on their website.
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