A Queens man who told federal agents he wanted to join the far-right group Proud Boys was charged with gun crime on Wednesday after messages he posted on social media at the time of the Capitol riot generated alarms, according to prosecutors and court documents.
The man, Eduard Florea, was arrested on Tuesday after a search of his home revealed an arsenal of over 1,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, two dozen shotgun shells, 75 military-style combat knives, two axes and two swords, prosecutors said. No weapons were found.
The arrest of Florea, a 40-year-old software engineer, came amid an intense manhunt across the country against those who invaded the United States Capitol last week as part of a violent wave of supporters of President Trump that wanted to annul the election results.
Although Florea was not one of countless people persecuted for participating in the riot, the police considered him threatening enough to arrive in an armored vehicle at his home to arrest him.
Among the comments that caused concern to the authorities and led to the search of his home, the complaint says, was the one in which Florea seemed to threaten the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia, just before Warnock was declared the winner of a US Senate seat. .
At around 1am on January 6, while posting under the name “LoneWolfWar” in a group topic about Warnock on the social media site Parler, the complaint says that Florea wrote that “dead men cannot pass laws,” obscenity added for emphasis.
Later that day, also at Parler, Florea wrote about having three cars of “armed patriots” in a “caravan” bound for Washington, the complaint says. As the Capitol revolt unfolded, he wrote that the time for peace and civility was over and that “here in New York, we are rich targets.”
“I’m going to fight, so God help me,” he added.
In a bail hearing at the Federal District Court in Brooklyn that was held remotely, Florea’s lawyer pointed out that the FBI concluded that his client, despite his online bravado, had no car and had not been to Washington.
However, the content of his comments on social media was threatening enough to increase the authorities’ interest, especially when combined with his status as a criminal, according to prosecutors and the complaint.
Florea is now federally accused of being a criminal for possessing ammunition. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.