A slew of terror copycats have popped up like weeds across America in the days since a crazed gunman committed the nation’s deadliest mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
At least one gay man in Atlanta, two antigay social monsters in San Diego, and a loudmouth in Brooklyn have made headlines this week.
The Georgia incident has police investigating Brett Edgerton, whose Twitter account has since been taken down, according to Project Q. He reportedly posted tweets threatening to make two local gay bars “the next Orlando:”
Edgerton’s Twitter bio described him in chilling terms: “I will be your the last person you will see.”
And these are not the first dangerous messages from Edgerton’s account. Project Q reports a series of tweets from the same account also threatened LGBT people in Atlanta over two weeks in April: “I will terrorize the gays in Atlanta. Just you wait,” “Where will Brett Edgerton strike next? Which gay man will he harrass [sic] next in Midtown, Athens or elsewhere,” and “I like watching people.”
Atlanta police have turned its investigation over to the Homeland Security division.
More threats on page two.
The FBI is now on the case of a Craigslist ad spotted in San Diego by the viewer of a local TV station that praised the Orlando gunman and eerily warned, “San Diego you are next.”
“We need more Orlando’s [sic],” reads the ad, and it includes a picture of a hand shooting a gun, with a bullet firing from the barrel.
According to KGTV-TV, the post read: “Orlando was long overdue. Cleanse your community of the filth that gives decent gay men and women a bad name. Those people were walking diseases, bug chasers, and thank god for AIDS and 9-11 and now Orlando. San Diego you are next …”
Elsewhere in San Diego, two active-duty Marines are under investigation for posting and then sharing a photograph on social media that appeared to threaten to attack gay bars: “Coming to a gay bar near you!” according to Marine Corps Times.
Although the service has not identified the marines, their fellow corpsmen were praised for immediately reporting the posts to their superiors.
And in addition to all these threats on social media, a man in Brooklyn was arrested after threatening to “come back Orlando style” to a gay bar where he’d been ejected by the bouncer for arguing loudly with his girlfriend.
Justin Rice, 40, was charged with assault and aggravated harassment after fighting with the bouncer and declaring: “You fucking faggots,” and “I’m going to shoot this place up and get my fifty just like Orlando, Florida. I’m going to come back Orlando-style!”
