City of Tampa police announced the arrest of 50-year-old Ralph Perkins of Tampa for making violent threats on social media.
Image/TPD
According to police, on Tuesday evening they were made aware of a concerning conversation a complainant had on a dating app. After being rejected for an offer he made for companionship, Perkins posted threatening statements to the social media platform such as:
• “I like to take a gun I like to wipe the whole gay community out in Tampa and then kill myself”
• “that’s what I want to do that’s going to be my Christmas”
• “That’s going to be my ultimate present to Tampa Florida is the annihilator the gay community before I kill myself”
Officers were able to quickly confirm Perkins identity and detectives immediately began an investigation. Once an arrest warrant was obtained, Tampa Police detectives, accompanied by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies, responded to Perkins’s house in the county.
He was taken into custody and charged with Written Threats to Commit Mass Violence or an Act of Terrorism. Perkins provided a post-Miranda confession to the offense and is currently in Hillsborough County Jail – Orient Road.
