A Kenner man who in March allegedly threatened to “blow up” FedEx in St. Rose after becoming angry an expected delivery was not on time was placed into the pre-trial intervention program.
Ronald Lopez, 27, of 2009 10th St. in Kenner, was arrested and charged with terrorizing after allegedly posting the following message online: “I’m bout to blow up Fed Ex in st. rose (sic) (expletive) not even funny. I will leave a pile of bodies.”
After being made aware of the comments, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes said the man was upset over what he viewed to be a delayed delivery.
According to the St. Charles Parish District Attorney’s Office, Lopez was a first time offender with no previous history of incident.
His online posting came at a time of high anxieties over the subject matter of those threats. March saw several attacks in Texas where package bombs injured or killed several people, while in February several victims were killed in a shooting at Jennings High School in Florida that some believe was foreshadowed through disturbing messages made on social media.
Following Lopez’s arrest, Yoes said people must be held responsible for their words as well as their actions and that authorities will not take threats lightly.
“Hiding behind a keyboard and often with made up names, many feel empowered,” Yoes said. “Even if we have the legal right to make social media posts, we all remain accountable for our words. Making threats against the safety of others has consequences and despite what many think, there really is no anonymity in social media. Investigative tools more often than not will lead us to the offenders.”
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