Arizona man who threatened to 'hunt' LGBTQ supporters arrested in unrelated case
Arizona man who threatened to 'hunt' LGBTQ supporters arrested in unrelated case
Ethan Schmidt, a man who was reportedly seen on video threatening to "hunt" LGBTQ supporters in Target stores, was arrested over the weekend for violating a court order in a different case. FOX 10's Desiree Fluellen reports.
PHOENIX - An Arizona anti-mask advocate who's been on the radar of local law enforcement for threatening to "hunt" LGBTQ supporters in Target stores was arrested over the weekend for a separate case.
Officers took Ethan Schmidt into custody at the Arizona State Capitol during the "March for our Lives" demonstration on June 11.
Police say they were notified by the Arizona Dept. of Public Safety that troopers had taken Schmidt into custody on a warrant out of Mesa. He reportedly had failed to comply with a court order stemming from a case back in January.
Schmidt was held overnight in Mesa and was released Sunday morning.
Mesa PD released the following statement:
On the original case, he was charged for violating an order against harassment. A local business had taken out an order against harassment on Ethan and he had been served with the paperwork. Ethan allegedly violated the order by contacting the business after being served. He was charged with a misdemeanor and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Late last month, Phoenix Police said it was aware of a video posted by Schmidt in which he said he would be going to Target stores to "hunt" LGBTQ supporters in June during Pride Month.
The department said detectives were looking into this as part of an ongoing investigation.
Back in January, police say Schmidt was banned from being inside the Arizona State Capitol after making racist remarks to Democratic state representative Reginald Bolding.
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