Man threatened to kill US senator and ‘take back Washington,’ feds say. He’s prison-bound
A New York man is headed to prison after he was accused of threatening to kill a member of Congress and “take back Washington” in a series of social media posts aimed at U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
A judge sentenced Eduard Florea, 41, to nearly three years in prison months after the Queens man pleaded guilty to posting threats against the Democratic senator from Georgia, and other elected officials, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced in a Dec. 16 news release.
Back in August, he also pleaded guilty to illegally possessing ammunition as a convicted felon.
Florea, a.k.a “LoneWolfWar,” made repeated threats on social media site Parler during and before the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, court documents show. At least two of his threats targeted Rev. Warnock, who won a high-stakes run-off to become one of Georgia’s two U.S. senators.
“Warnok [sic] is going to have a hard time casting votes for communist policies when he’s swinging [sic] with the (expletive) fish,” Florea wrote Jan. 5, according to a federal indictment.
The next day, authorities said, he posted a response about Warnock on Parler that read: “Dead men can’t pass (expletive) votes.”
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McClatchy News reached out to Warnock’s office for comment on Dec. 17 and is awaiting a response.
Prosecutors said Florea also made several posts referencing planned violence against the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, when hundreds of right-wing rioters stormed the building in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The violent takeover left five people dead, including a U.S. Capitol police officer who died from injuries he sustained in the attack.
Though he didn’t travel to Washington, Florea typed out several more threats as the chaos unfolded inside the Capitol.
“Mine are ready...I am ready,” he wrote, the indictment states. “We need to regroup outside DC and attack from all sides...talking to some other guys...I will keep watching for the signal.”
He is accused of adding that his guns were “cleaned” and “loaded.
“Got a bunch of guys all armed and ready to deploy...there are 3 car full of armed patriots heading in from NY,” Florea reportedly wrote.
FBI agents on Jan. 12 raided his home, where they found more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to federal prosecutors. He was subsequently arrested and charged.
“With today’s sentence, the defendant faces serious consequences for threatening the life of United States Senator Raphael Warnock as part of his effort to foment violence at the Capital on January 6, 2021 in connection with attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “This Office is deeply committed to protecting our democratic institutions and preserving our democracy, and will vigorously prosecute those who would undermine our founding principles as a nation.”
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