CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Texas Felon Arrested Over Parler Threats to Hunt Down ‘Traitors’ Ahead of Inauguration

Troy Anthony Smocks wrote Parler posts about preparing “our weapons” to “hunt these cowards down like the Traitors each of them are,” according to court documents.

A Texas man with a criminal history was arrested Friday in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Troy Anthony Smocks, 58, was charged with making interstate threats. He allegedly traveled to D.C. on Jan. 5, wrote threatening posts on social media site Parler about the Jan. 6 riot, then vowed to return with an armed mob on Jan. 19, the day before Joe Biden’s inauguration. “Prepare our weapons, and then go get’ em. Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are,” he wrote on a post seen by 60,000 people on Parler.

Smocks was convicted on federal charges in 2006, when he forged a pilot’s license, armed forces ID card, and more under a fake name, NBC Dallas-Forth Worth reports. Before that he was convicted on state charges in Missouri for theft and forgery.