The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) said they arrested a man on Friday for threatening to shoot up a Walmart in a Facebook post.
Richard D. Clayton, 26, was charged with intimidation through a written threat for reportedly writing, “3 more days of probation left then I get my AR-15 back. Don’t go to Walmart next week.” The Orlando Sentinel reported that the FDLE, Winter Park Police Department, and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force launched a joint investigation on August 6, the same day Clayton made the threatening post.
Investigators reportedly said Clayton is a white supremacist with a history of writing threatening posts under sockpuppet accounts.
Clayton’s alleged post was likely a nod to the August 3 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, which left 22 people dead. Suspected gunman Patrick Crusius confessed to carrying out the shooting to kill as many Mexicans as he can, according to ABC News.
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CNN reported that at least eight Walmart stores have been targeted by threats since the deadly shootings in Texas and Mississippi.
Despite claims made in the Facebook post, Clayton wasn’t on probation, an FDLE spokesperson told The Associated Press.
Clayton was reportedly arrested without incident and remains jailed on $15,000 bond.
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[Featured image: Richard D. Clayton/Orange County Jail]
