FILE PHOTO: Eduard Florea appears during a virtual hearing on weapons charges in a New York court in this January 13, 2021 courtroom sketch. REUTERS\/Jane Rosenberg\/File Photo<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Proud Boys supporter who U.S. prosecutors said kept a large weapons cache and made ominous social media posts, including toward a Democratic senator, pleaded not guilty to charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition and making online threats.<\/p>\n
Eduard Florea, of Queens, New York, entered his plea through a federal public defender at a Friday hearing before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak in Brooklyn federal court.<\/p>\n
Florea was charged after FBI agents searched his Middle Village home and found more than 900 rounds of ammunition, 72 military-style combat knives, two hatchets and two swords, according to court papers.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Florea used the name LoneWolfWar on Parler, a social media platform popular with many conservatives, to make threats before and during the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, though he did not travel to Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
According to a Jan. 22 indictment, Florea responded to a post concerning newly-elected Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock by writing Dead men cant pass s*** laws, and later wrote I am awaiting my orders ... Armed and ready to deploy and Its time to unleash some violence.<\/p>\n
Florea had been previously convicted on a New York state weapons possession charge, prosecutors said. He was arrested Jan. 12 and detained without bail.<\/p>\n
The Proud Boys are a far-right group that has supported violence and had endorsed former U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot<\/p>\n
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Proud Boys supporter who U.S. says had ammunition cache and made threats pleads not guilty - Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FILE PHOTO: Eduard Florea appears during a virtual hearing on weapons charges in a New York court in this January 13, 2021 courtroom sketch. REUTERS\/Jane Rosenberg\/File Photo NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Proud Boys supporter who U.S Continue reading