A Kansas man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to commit a bombing and mass shooting at this weekend's Nashville Pride Festival.
According to a Department of Justice news release, 25-year-old Joshua Hensley, also known as "Josh Echo," of Hoisington, Kan., was indicted on two counts of transmitting an interstate threat, which prosecutors say related to Facebook comments made by Hensley in April on a multiple Nashville Pride posts. In the comments, Hensley allegedly threatened to "make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for this event" and “commit a mass shooting.”
On Thursday, June 15, Hensley was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at his Kansas home. He appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge, and has a detention hearing scheduled for Friday, June 23, in the District of Kansas.
“We will not tolerate hate-based, threats of violence designed to intimidate Tennesseans,” U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis says in the release. “We will continue to work with our partners at the FBI to ensure that the civil rights of all persons are protected.”
If convicted, Hensley faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.
This article first ran via our sister publication, The News.
