An armed supporter of President Donald Trump and Republican Senator Ted Cruz was detained by police Wednesday outside a migrant community center in El Paso, according to Dallas News.
The publication reports that the incident is “putting an already grieving city on edge.”
Police spokesman Robert Gomez said Thursday that a 21-year-old “suspicious subject” was “detained and interviewed” before being released. He was reportedly armed with a gun and knife.
He was spotted lurking outside the Casa Carmelita shelter.
“He was sitting in his truck wearing blue latex gloves, and brandishing a knife. Police recovered a loaded gun, ammo, and a bag of white powder from his person,” Casa Carmelita wrote in a Facebook post.
Images posted on Twitter showed the man outside of his truck with his hands up:
In a statement on Facebook, Casa Carmelita blasted El Paso for releasing the man without charges.
“Police stated that the gunman has rights, that they cannot search his truck, and that they have no cause to arrest him. An eyewitness saw him brandishing a gun and attempting to enter our building, women were fleeing down the street, warning neighbors as they ran away. We watched officers removing clips of ammo from his person,” the shelter wrote.
“One officer acknowledged that if they had not arrived when they did, Thomas was likely to have committed acts which would be ‘a different situation’. They released him shortly after, on our block. The number one demographic of mass shooters are young white males.”
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