Alex Jeffrey Bancroft
A man in Florida has been arrested after allegedly making threats against protesters. The case stems from statements Alex Jeffrey Bancroft, 30, allegedly made on Facebook.
On Friday, he allegedly threatened to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters. Others commented under the post that he actually would not do this, but he replied, “keep ur eyes on Fla News,” according to deputies from The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said they found another violent post. In this one, Bancroft assembled a message from “Cards Against Humanity.” From deputies:
The prompt read, “That’s right. I killed _____. How you ask? _____.” Bancroft ordered the cards to read, “That’s right. I killed African children. How you ask? An AR-15 assault rifle.”
Bancroft allegedly told deputies he only wrote those posts out of frustration. He was not going to harm anyone, he said.
The long and short if it is that Orange County deputies served his arrest warrant after he went to visit a friend in the city of Clermont. he was arrested in Orlando on Saturday night at approximately 11 p.m., deputies said.
“The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office takes all threats to injure or kill others very seriously, and this includes threats made online on various social media platforms,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. “HCSO’s mission to serve, protect and defend the citizens of Hillsborough County extends beyond the streets we patrol every day. If you think you can hide behind a computer screen when threatening to hurt another person, you are absolutely wrong. I want to thank our law enforcement partners, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Orange County Sheriff’s Office, for their assistance throughout the course of this investigation.”
Bancroft is charged with written threat to kill or do bodily injury. Online records viewed by Law&Crime show that he is being held as of Sunday afternoon at the Orange County jail on an out-of-county warrant. HCSO deputies say that he is awaiting transfer to Hillsborough County.
It is unclear if the defendant has an attorney in this matter.
[Mugshot via Orange County]
