A man who authorities accuse of requesting US$30,000 to shoot police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, in a social media video while he was brandishing a gun has been arrested.
According to a criminal complaint, Cortez Lamont Edwards, of Louisville, on Wednesday last week made the statements on a Facebook Live video, the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky said in a statement.
Edwards, 29, was requesting the money to shoot officers who were in the street in front of his residence during a disturbance, authorities said.
Photo: Reuters
Federal and local authorities on Sunday executed a search warrant on Edward’s home and found him sleeping on a couch.
Authorities also found a gun on the couch, and a toddler in the house, the statement said.
An investigation revealed that Edwards was a convicted felon, and he has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
It was not clear if Edwards had an attorney who could comment.
‘HEALING NEEDED’
“Louisville needs healing and safety for its citizens, not armed felons seeking bids to shoot police,” US Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky Russell Coleman said in the statement.
Louisville police thanked authorities on Twitter after Edwards’ arrest was announced, writing that “the actions of this person were unacceptable!”
If convicted, Edwards could face up to 10 years in prison and a US$250,000 fine.
Two officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday night during demonstrations in Louisville expressing anger over the killings of black people at the hands of police.
Other cities across the US have also seen protests after a Kentucky grand jury brought no charges against Louisville police for Breonna Taylor’s death.
Taylor, a black emergency medical worker, died when she was shot multiple times by white officers who entered her home during a narcotics investigation in March.
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