Police have arrested a black teenager in connection with social media threats against black people who attended an Alabama county fair.
For weeks, police in Opelika, Alabama, investigated a Sept. 19 post that said racial violence was coming to the Lee County Fair.
The writer of the post said he and his friends “are coming to [the] Opelika Alabama fair to kill every NEGRO that we lay eye contact on so be prepared. WHITE POWER,” according to AL.com.
The profile of the poster included the Confederate battle flag.
A man connected to a social media post threatening racial violence at the Lee County Fair has been arrested. https://t.co/sYefkFTND6
— Opelika-Auburn News (@oanow) October 7, 2022
Police shared the results of what they found.
“On 09/19/2022, the Opelika Police Department began investigating a racially inflammatory post on social media threatening to shoot attendees of a certain demographic at the Lee County Fairgrounds,” the Opelika Police Department posted on its Facebook page.
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“The department takes threats like these very seriously and immediately began an investigation. Officials were able to trace the social media account to a residence in Lafayette, AL. Through the investigation, 18-year-old Pharrell Smith was developed as a suspect,” the post said.
“On 10/06/2022, the City of Lafayette Police Department arrested Smith on unrelated charges. Once he is released from their custody, Smith will be extradited to the Lee County Justice Center where he will be arrested on a Terroristic Threat charge,” Opelika police posted.
I nominate Pharrell Smith for the Jussie Smollett Humanitarian Peace Award … Alabama Teen Faces Terror Charges over Alleged Threats to Shoot Black People at County Fair 29 accused Lee County Fair
Opelika Police Dept— DocRebuild (@DocRebuild) October 10, 2022
According to the Valley Times-News, Smith was arrested by Lafayette police on Oct. 6 in connection with a Sept. 1 shooting. He was charged with attempted murder, reckless endangerment, discharging a firearm in an unoccupied dwelling, criminal mischief and discharging a firearm in city limits, according to the report.
The threat led to increased security when the Lee County fair took place in early October, according to WTVM-TV.
“We have heard about the threat, we are prepared for it, and everybody will come in here safely, and they will leave safely,” Lee County Fair employee Joey Huff said at the time, according to the TV station.
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He said everyone entering the fairgrounds would be “patted down” and extra police officers would be on hand.
The Opelika police asked anyone with further information on the incident to call the department at 334-705-5220 or the Secret Witness Hotline at 334-745-8665.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.