A Kansas man accused of threatening a "mass shooting" of a Nashville Pride event has been indicted, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Joshua Hensley, aka Josh Echo, of Hoisington, Kansas, was indicted on two counts of "transmitting an interstate threat related to the upcoming Nashville Pride event." The event is scheduled for this weekend.
The 25-year-old Hensley was arrested Thursday at his home after the threats were made on April 26 in a comment posted to the Nashville Pride Facebook page.
Court documents quote Hensley saying he would “make shrapnel pressure cooker bombs for this event.” In another comment posted the same day, Hensley then said he'd “commit a mass shooting."
“We will not tolerate hate-based threats of violence designed to intimidate Tennesseans,” said U.S. Attorney Leventis. “We will continue to work with our partners at the FBI to ensure that the civil rights of all persons are protected.”
Hensley faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
The threats are the latest in a line of attacks and intimidation targeting LGBTQ+-related events. Nazis showed up at a Boston drag queen story hour with Juicy Garland.
"We've got some verified Nazis today! Golly, I didn't order those," the queen tweeted Sunday. Ironically, her namesake, Judy Garland, appeared in the 1961 film "Judgment at Nuremberg"
According to an April 2023 report from GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, there were 161 anti-drag attacks over the course of the year, with an increase in the attacks coming around pride events. The ACLU has been following states that are using legislation to attack LGBTQ people. A whopping 491 bills have been proposed in 2023's legislative session.