A Detroit man is facing a five-year felony for allegedly threatening to behead a New York City police officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
Alvaro Eduardo Guzman-Telles, whose father says has Asperger’s syndrome, is accused of posting the threat Dec. 15 on Facebook amid nationwide protests over the use of force by law enforcement and police-related deaths of Garner and Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to Reuters, Guzman-Telles posted on Facebook that, “I’m going to personally kill and behead Daniel Pantaleo. This is a written threat and has to be taken extremely seriously.”
In another post, he had written, “Kill all cops on sight. No matter the circumstances.”
Guzman-Telles has no criminal history, but has three handguns registered under his name, according to court papers.
The FBI and Sterling Heights police officers went to his family’s home Jan. 1. Guzman-Telles wasn’t home but his mother said she was aware of the Facebook comments and had told her son to delete the posts, according to the search warrant.
He was arrested Jan. 7 in New Mexico and indicted Jan. 27.
He had an initial appearance in court on Tuesday and a detention hearing has been scheduled for Friday. Guzman-Telles could be sentenced to up to five years in prison if convicted.
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Reuters contributed to this story.
