Social media status updates threatening to kill police are a bad idea, two Warren men learned.
Because photos of them brandishing guns accompanied their Facebook posts, authorities consider the actions a serious threat, Norb Franz reports at The Oakland Press.
Felony and misdemeanor charges against Richard William Walker, 18, and Brandon Michael Davis, 20, started with an anonymous tip to the city’s police department that the pair threatened on Facebook to kill police officers.
Warren cops had impounded a vehicle driven by Walker a few days earlier, notes Franz, who quotes Detective Lt. Heidi Metz:
"This was a very specific threat. They looked like they had the present ability to carry out the threat." . . .
A hearing Thursday will determine whether the suspects will be bound over to Macomb County Circuit Court for trial.
According to 37th District Court records, a post attributed to Walker last month stated: “Wish people would kill more cops we need to have more cops getting killed we need tru (sic) soldiers.”
This Facebook post is attributed to Davis: "We really need more cop killers like for real f*** the cops f*** the court system." . . .
Photos from the respective pages on the social media website show two men brandishing what appear to be assault rifles and wearing ski masks and gas masks. In a separate photo, a shirtless man believed to be Walker flexes his left arm with the words “cop killer” tattooed on his left bicep.
Police say they seized shotguns, rifles, a handgun, a crossbow, a mini-cannon, pepper spray and cases of ammunition from Walker's home near Van Dyke and Nine Mile.
