2022-10-03

Amarillo man charged after threatening to go ‘Kamikaze’ on law enforcement

Excerpt

An Amarillo man who threatened law enforcement, government officials, and a number of racial and ethnic groups on social media has been federally charged.

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - An Amarillo man who threatened law enforcement, government officials, and a number of racial and ethnic groups on social media has been federally charged.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 40-year-old Everett Wayne “Rhett” Copelin III was arrested in Amarillo on Sept. 29, and was charged today.

During his arrest, law enforcement found a 9mm pistol and three loaded magazines in his vehicle.

According to a complaint, Copelin posted a number of threats on a social media platform called Gab.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office say on Aug. 31, under the name “Alpha Top Dog Pure Blood,” Copelin threatened to go “kamikaze” against “white law enforcement.”

The post was flagged to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center on Sept. 4.

A review of his Gab account revealed a history of posts threatening a number of targets, including police officers, government officials, Black people, immigrants, Jews, and others, such as:

On Aug. 21, he threatened to kill young black men in relationships with white women.
On Aug. 22, he threatened to “blow up” IRS agents.
On Sept. 5, he threatened to shoot police officers.
On Sept. 8, he claimed he would “go down to the border and start shooting invaders,” and allegedly added that he would “blow the FEDS away too.”
Later the same day, he threatened to kill Jews in the government and law enforcement.
On Sept. 14, he threatened to shoot Mexicans, who he felt “shouldn’t even be here.”
On Sept. 25, he threatened to hang supporters of a Texas gubernatorial candidate.

According to a complaint, Copelin posted online a call for “all strong abled white alpha men with sniper rifles” to enforce the law, “because the government is corrupt.”

Agents looked at photos of guns and bladed weapons on the “Alpha Top Dog Pure Blood” account.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, if Copelin is convicted, he could face up to 15 years in federal prison.