No matter what anyone thinks of Pride parades and other events, no sane person wants to see any of the participants hurt. So, when the FBI catches a potential mass shooter who had made online threats towards a Lubbock, Texas Pride parade, that's an unmitigated good thing.
A United States Postal Service (USPS) employee was arrested Sunday after threatening on social media to commit a mass shooting at a Pride parade in Texas, the FBI announced on Monday.
Michael Thompson, who resides in Clovis, New Mexico, was taken into custody after authorities received a tip regarding a threat to conduct a mass casualty attack at a Pride event in Lubbock, Texas.
"This weekend’s arrest out of Lubbock, Texas, is the best of this FBI and our law enforcement partners in action—yet again stopping a potentially deadly attack thanks to brilliant execution from our teams and partners," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "Our agents, intel teams, and state and local partners out of Texas acted decisively and stopped him before he could act."
Sharp work, there.
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Michael Thompson, the accused, reportedly not only made threats against the event, but the four guns he was caught with were in his possession illegally; he's a convicted felon.
Authorities said they recovered four firearms from Thompson's residence. He is legally prohibited from owning firearms due to a prior felony domestic violence conviction, according to the FBI.
Thompson is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm as well as transmitting threatening interstate communications.
The report doesn't mention what kind of firearms Thompson had in his residence, which isn't surprising at this stage in the investigation. We also - a cautionary note here - do not yet know anything about Thompson's political opinions, if indeed he has any. What has been released at this point are just the facts: Online threats were reportedly made on a social media account in his name, and he was caught with weapons he owned illegally.
Here's the thing: Many of us aren't fond of the whole Pride Month thing, or of these parades, which all too often seem to feature unattractive adults in unflattering but revealing (sometimes in a manner that would have made Lady Godiva blush) outfits. But nobody wants to see anything like what Michael Thompson may have been planning. Nobody wants to see anyone hurt, or worse. So the only appropriate response to this bust is to congratulate the FBI and the local authorities in Clovis, New Mexico, for a job well done.
This isn't the only such threat made in recent weeks:
In a separate incident in Brunswick, Georgia, a man was arrested earlier this month after police said he threatened to attack attendees at a local LGBTQ+ Pride event. Christopher Waller, 25, was charged with making terroristic threats stemming from comments posted in a local Facebook group on June 9.
And again, job well done, and it's good to see cops who are serious about their work.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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