Police Respond to Mass Shooting Threat at MAGA Event at Trump Hotel
Authorities in the nation’s capital considered one Twitter user’s comment to be a credible threat against a pro-Trump political event scheduled for earlier this week, according to multiple media reports.
The Gateway Pundit, a conservative blog, published a screenshot of the tweet, posted by an account called DreamstarJustic.
“I am coming with a gun and i expect to get numerous blood-stained MAGA hats as trophies,” the user wrote as a caption to an image of a handgun.
The tweet referenced President Donald Trump’s ubiquitous campaign hat and slogan, Make America Great Again, which was the theme of Tuesday evening’s gathering.
Political activist and writer Cassandra Fairbanks asked her Twitter followers earlier in the day if any of them were “going to the MAGA meetup,” prompting the problematic response from DreamstarJustic.
As Heavy reported, other users reacted to the apparent threat by reporting the user and content to authorities.
https://twitter.com/slone/status/1039614133975633926
The post has since been deleted, but police reportedly took the threat of violence seriously and initiated precautionary measures ahead of the meeting at a D.C. hotel.
The U.K. Daily Mail cited Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Officer Hugh Carew, who confirmed the agency is conducting an investigation into the tweet.
Update: DC Police deployed to Trump DC following mass shooting threat to MAGA event pic.twitter.com/MmKnYJmLN7
— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) September 11, 2018
As of this writing, police had not provided a more detailed update.
Media reports identify the Twitter account as having previously endorsed Democratic socialism.
The Gateway Pundit described typical attendees of meetups like the event planned for Tuesday night include members of the “media, midterm candidates and people who work closely with the president,” noting that “a mix of several different pro-Trump groups, including Virginia Women for Trump” would be among the guests.
In addition to local police, the blog confirmed that the FBI had been informed of the threatening tweet.
Hotel staff and security were also aware of the situation and had put “all measures in place” to deal with the possible threat ahead of the planned event.
Fairbanks was among those who said she planned to attend despite the reply to her initial tweet.
Politically motivated threats are nothing new in the age of social media, and some critics argue that Trump supporters are uniquely susceptible because tech companies are generally friendlier to anti-Trump sentiment than some other forms of political speech.
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