Texas man arrested for threatening to bomb Turning Point USA event where Erika Kirk will be speaking
by Mary McCue Bell · The Washington TimesA Texas man has been arrested after he was accused of making online threats toward Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk regarding an event in San Antonio next week.
Jacob Wenske, 26, was arrested by police and is charged with a third-degree felony count of making a terrorist threat. In an April social media post about the upcoming event, he wrote, “I know exactly where to bomb.”
An investigation into Mr. Wenske began after the San Antonio Express-News posted about the TPUSA Women’s Leadership Summit in early June, at which Ms. Kirk is a featured speaker.
“I can’t wait to be the valet for her escort,” he wrote in the social media comment. He previously worked for a parking management company that offered valet service for events, leading investigators to believe his threats were “not isolated or ambiguous,” according to an affidavit.
His Facebook account reportedly showed “ongoing violent hostility toward Turning Point-affiliated persons and supporters, including death-approval statements, encouragement of harm toward ideological opponents, and repeated hostile engagement across multiple public threads,” according to the affidavit.
Mr. Wenske also allegedly sent a threatening email to TPUSA in January.
“Death to Erika Kirk and every single speaker there!!” the email read. “America will live on without those scum on this earth. Every Christian nationalist shall perish in the bombing that will take place at every single Turning Point rally and event.”
His threats led to heightened security measures for the conservative organization’s event, according to the affidavit, which included private security guards and bomb-sniffing dogs.
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TPUSA told Fox News, “We look forward to a successful and inspiring gathering June 5-7 in San Antonio for 2,500+ ladies attending the Women’s Leadership Summit!”
“We are grateful to the San Antonio Police Department and the FBI for their rapid response and arrest of the individual making these threats,” the organization said on social media. “The safety of our attendees, speakers, and staff is always our top priority. All TPUSA events include enhanced, multi-layered security measures that are enforced by both private security and local police. We refuse to let threats silence us.”
Mr. Wenske now faces two felony counts of making a terroristic threat involving public fear or serious bodily injury or public disruption. He is in jail with a $120,000 bond.
Ms. Kirk took over TPUSA after her husband and co-founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed at one of the youth conservative advocacy group’s events in Utah last year. Since then, she has faced multiple threats, including one before a scheduled TPUSA event at the University of Georgia that led to its cancellation.
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Mary McCue Bell
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