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Texas Latino teen allegedly targeted TPUSA student conference in Florida, FBI says

Authorities recently arrested a 19-year old Texas man who allegedly threatened a mass killing at a Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Florida.

Alejandro Richard Velasquez Gomez posted about his plans to kill students on social media, the FBI told several news outlets.

Velasquez threatened a “day of retribution” toward Turning Point USA students and in a July 18 post on social media described it as the day he would have revenge against humanity and make TPUSA students pay for his suffering, the FBI told KSAT News.

A screenshot of the threat shows Velasquez wrote: “Hi, it’s LatinoZoomer here. July 22 is the day of retribution. The day in which all of you will pay for my suffering. SAS will be the turning point of the LatinoZoomer lore.” He ended it with one gunshot emoji and three angry faces.

Federal officials told Fox News that Velasquez’s threats were fueled by his alleged hatred for women and past rejection, citing social media posts he had made months prior.

The FBI did not provide information to The College Fix when it called the agency for the latest details on the case.

Turning Point USA, which the FBI states was aware of the threat during the event, did not respond to The College Fix’s request for comment on this matter.

Several students who attended Student Action Summit told The College Fix they heard nothing about the threat during the event.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, police obtained an arrest warrant for alleged threats of violence, mass shooting or acts of terrorism.

The complaint was obtained by The Daily Beast, which attempts to paint Velasquez, a Latino who used an Instagram user name of “@LatinoZoomer,” as some sort of white nationalist.

Velasquez booked a plane ticket to Tampa after posting the threats on social media, under the usernames LatinoZoomerPolitics or MestizoZoomer, but canceled his plane ticket the day before, the complaint states.

He was arrested by San Antonio police on July 22. Upon arrest, the FBI obtained Velasquez’s phone with a search warrant and allegedly found three images of child pornography on it.

According to the criminal complaint, Velasquez faces felony charges for threatening interstate communications and possession of child pornography.

Investigators said the recent Texas high school graduate took inspiration from other mass shooters, in particular the UC Santa Barbara incident involving Elliot Rodger, who killed six people in 2014, citing his frustration with being a virgin and his jealousy of peers.

Velasquez “explained to me that he intended the post to evoke Elliot Rodger and was familiar with Elliot Rodger due to extensive online research,” the criminal complaint stated.

The San Antonio Express News reported Aug. 18 that “Velasquez was denied bail following a hearing this week and remains behind bars. His public defender, Molly Roth, could not be immediately reached for comment.”

Turning Point USA hosted right-wing celebrities and politicians at its Student Action Summit in July 22 through July 24 in Florida. The event offered activism and leadership training for young conservatives.

It featured speakers including former President Donald Trump and Governor Ron DeSantis.

In addition to Velasquez’s threats, during the event left-wing protests converged in front of the convention center and aggressively protested, so much so that police stepped in to calm the crowd, according to videos by TPUSA reporter Drew Hernandez.

*Editor’s note: The author of this piece attended the TPUSA conference cited in this article.

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