Incel extremist faces terrorism charges for mass shooting threat against pro-Trump student group
An incel extremist has been arrested on terrorism charges after allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting against a conservative student group in Florida.
Alejandro Richard Velasquez Gomez, who turns 19 on Friday, allegedly made a credible threat against the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit, which was held last month in Tampa, and was charged with making threatening interstate communications and possession of child pornography, reported the San Antonio Express-News.
“July 22 is the day of retribution the day I will have revenge against all of humanity which all of you will pay for my suffering," read a post on Velasquez’s Instagram account, according to the FBI.
Investigators noted the similarities to a warning posted by Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured more than a dozen others in California in 2014 and has become an avatar for other incels, or involuntarily celibate young men.
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“[Velasquez] explained to me that he intended the post to evoke Elliot Rodger and was familiar with Elliot Rodger due to extensive online research,” an FBI agent wrote.
Agents learned that Tampa police considered the threat to be credible and obtained a warrant for his arrest, and investigators said he had booked a flight from Austin to Tampa on July 22 but canceled the night before.
San Antonio police arrested Velasquez on July 22, and FBI agents obtained a search warrant for his phone and found images of children being sexually exploited by adults.
Investigators aren't sure why Velasquez targeted Turning Points USA, but they found a YouTube video he posted showing him as a follower of white nationalist livestreamer Nick Fuentes, who tried to access the student group's summit in summer 2021 after TPUSA banned him and his "groyper army."
Fuentes gained popularity among Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" movement and has ties to Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
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