by Mary Rose Corkery
A Texas man was sentenced to 46 months in federal jail over brandishing an assault rifle at a George Floyd protest, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah announced in a Wednesday press release.
Emmanuel Quinones, 25, acknowledged “he brought a loaded Smith & Wesson .223 caliber semi-automatic rifle” to the protest protesting Floyd’s death, plea papers said, according to the Department of Justice press release. Quinones also acknowledged he made threatening posts online before the protest.
Quinones had the weapon positioned at “low ready” in sight of the protesters, the press release said. The weapon was held ready to fire with its muzzle pointed at the ground while panic ensued in the crowd.
“While a race riot erupted in Minneapolis the President literally retweeted a video of one of his supporters saying the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat. These people are PUSHING for America to rip itself to shreds,” Quinones wrote on Facebook May 28, according to court documents The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained. “Disgusting. I’ll tell you right now if you keep provoking regular people we’ll make sure you never cross that line ever again. I guarantee it. #MountUp”
Despite Texas being an open-carry state, it’s against the Texas Penal Code to show a firearm in a public area “in a manner calculated to alarm,” the Wednesday press release said. Quinones refused to drop the weapon despite officer orders, only relinquishing the weapon after an officer drew a firearm on him and another protestor attempted to grab the rifle.
Quinones allegedly screamed “this is a revolution” and “President Trump must die” while he was being led to custody, according to the Wednesday press release.
Quinones, in another May 28 Facebook post, mentioned trying to get “gun parts ‘to off racists and MAGA people,’” a Sept. 11 press release said.
Quinones pleaded guilty in September to interstate threatening communications, the court documents said. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix sentenced him on Tuesday, according to the Wednesday press release.
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Mary Rose Corkery is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
