Alabamian arrested after 'nominating' specific police officers to be assassinated

TROY, Ala. — An Alabama man who pledged in a Facebook post to kill police has been arrested and charged with making a “terrorist threat,” a Class C Felony.

Troy police Chief Randall Barr told WCBI Thursday that “20-year-old Javon Keontre Pryor threatened to kill several Troy police officers in a July 8 post. Court records state Pryor nominated officers’ names as targets and referenced the recent officer killings in Texas in the post.”

Pryor was previously charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting into an occupied vehicle last year. Prior to that he was charged with assault after an altercation he was allegedly involved in left a teenager blind. Because of his history of violence, police took the Facebook threats seriously, especially because they named specific individuals as targets. Pryor is being held on $50,000 bond.

Pryor’s arrest comes at a time of national tension between law enforcement officers and some individuals in the black community. In a handful of instances demonstrations have become violent, most notably in Dallas where five police officers were killed and nine wounded. Three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were also targeted and killed and three others wounded in an ambush earlier this week.

Alabama, however, has remained peaceful.

The City of Mobile is expressed its support for the city’s law enforcement community this week with a stunning blue light display igniting the bayside skyline.

“Our skyline will shine blue this week,” reads a post on the City of Mobile’s Facebook page, “in honor of the men and women in blue who wake up everyday not knowing if they’ll return home.”

The Alabama State Capitol also showed its support for law enforcement by lighting up blue on Monday as well, and many citizens around the state are joining in in different ways.

The small town of Rainbow city recently hosted a law enforcement support night and several other cities around the state have done the same.

Another Alabamian personally sought out and publicly thanked the officers who saved his life after he was nearly killed in a shooting in Birmingham.

“I just want to come here and thank the officers for doing their job to the best of their ability and trying to show them people care about them doing their job because I know it could be a hard task out here,” the man said.

Other Alabamians took to social media to encourage their friends and co-workers to wear blue clothes or ribbons in support of police officers, and others pledged to place blue lightbulbs on their front porch.

“My plan is to replace my porch light with a blue light bulb to honor our heroes in blue,” said one social media commenter. “I want them to know me and my household are behind them and appreciate them.”

(h/t WCBI)