kali9/iStockBy ELLA TORRES, ABC News
(EL PASO, Texas) — A Texas man is facing federal charges after authorities said he made racist and threatening comments against black people and Black Lives Matter protesters.
Manuel Flores, 42, of El Paso, was arrested on Monday and charged with transmitting threatening communications, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas on Wednesday.
Flores allegedly uploaded a video to YouTube with a title that included a racist slur followed by the words “Lives Matter.”
In the video, he is seen with what appears to be an AR-15 style rifle resting at his feet and he says his “dream” is to “take out at least 200” black people, who he identified with a racist slur, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Flores also said he would drive through Dallas and dare individuals who support Black Lives Matter to “stop him,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement have erupted across the country and world in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Floyd, a black man, died at the hands of white police officers. The protests have called for an end to police brutality and systemic racism.
Flores is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service and will be transferred to authorities in El Paso.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in federal prison.
It’s not yet known if Flores has legal representation. Calls to the U.S. Marshals Service were not immediately returned.
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