Man will plead guilty to threatening Pride event after Charlie Kirk's death
Source: The Guardian
Sat 11 Oct 2025 06.00 EDT
Last modified on Sat 11 Oct 2025 06.02 EDT
A Texas man has agreed to plead guilty to going on social media and threatening to shoot people at an LGBTQ+ parade as vengeance for the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.
Joshua Wayne Cole signed federal court filings indicating that he planned to plead guilty to a charge of interstate threatening communications at a hearing tentatively set for 16 October, about a month after he was arrested in connection with online posts threatening to open fire on a Pride parade in Abilene, Texas. The resident of Anson, Texas, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, though defendants who plead guilty before their trials do not typically face maximum punishments.
Cole fell under authorities’ scrutiny on 18 September after those preparing to host the Abilene Pride parade took notice of his threatening Facebook posts and reported them to local police. Police then notified the FBI, as tensions across the US were heightened in the aftermath of Kirk’s killing.
Responding to a message about how the organizers of the 20 September Abilene Pride parade had announced that no weapons would be allowed at their event, one of the posts in question said: “Fk their parade, I say we lock and load and pay them back for taking out Charlie Kirk.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/11/texas-man-threaten-pride-event-charlie-kirk
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