A 42-year-old Texas man is facing federal charges after allegedly threatening to shoot up the Abilene Pride Parade as revenge for the recent assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. “fk their parade, I say we lock and load and pay them back for taking out Charlie Kirk,” Joshua Cole wrote in a September 18 message to a Facebook friend, according to an FBI probable cause affidavit reviewed by The Independent. “… [C]ome on bro let’s go hunting fairies,” he wrote, the affidavit says. Cole was arrested by the FBI a day later, telling agents that he “did not believe that the gay pride event should be allowed,” while claiming he didn’t actually intend to gun down parade participants, the affidavit states. But “the threats were not conditional,” FBI Special Agent Sam Venuti wrote in the affidavit supporting the case against Cole. “The threats were specific. The threats were also specific to a particular set of victims: people participating in the gay Pride parade.” Cole’s comments “were not mere idle or careless talk, exaggeration, or something said in only a joking manner,” and any “reasonable person would experience apprehension of violence based on Cole’s statements,” according to the affidavit, which was attached to a criminal complaint filed in North Texas federal court on September 19. Cole attended a brief court appearance Thursday and was ordered to remain jailed before trial. The Independent has requested comment from the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Cole’s attorney. Abilene’s fourth annual Pride Parade & Festival took place September 20 and featured vendors, live music, family activities, and drag shows. Extra security was on hand. “Everyone wants to feel recognized and loved and feel like they belong somewhere,” Abilene Pride Alliance board member Nick Ellis told local ABC affiliate KTXS prior to the event, which went off without a hitch. “And you can’t do that without creating those spaces, for people to be able to have those opportunities.” Two days before the parade, Cole replied to a Facebook post in which an acquaintance complained about a “no guns” policy instituted by the organizers. “They don’t want anyone showing up and taking them out like they wanna do everyone else,” Cole replied, according to screenshots of his Facebook comments included in the affidavit. “Maybe we should protest lol.” When another poster wrote a message snidely wishing “those they/thems” a “good parade,” Cole allegedly pounced. “Fk their parade i say we lock and load and pay them back for taking out Charlie Kirk,” Cole replied, according to the affidavit. “[T]heres only like 30 of em we can send a clear message to the rest of them. [C]ome on bro lets go hunting fairies.”
via independent: Texas man accused of threatening to shoot up Pride parade to ‘pay them back for taking out Charlie Kirk’