Armed Muslim who crashed private Christian conference charged as a terrorist
The Muslim man who brandished his guns on social media after he was ejected from a Christian conference has been arrested on charges of terrorism threats.
Authorities in South Dakota have arrested Ehab Jaber on Friday due to the threatening posts that he made on his Facebook page on April 9 during the Worldview Weekend Rally in Sioux Falls.
The news came days after a Sioux Falls police spokesman said that Jaber would not be charged because he was just exercising his First and Second Amendment Rights and had "broken no laws."
Jaber, a former resident of Saudi Arabia, reportedly had a handgun on his person while he was inside the Christian Worldview conference, according to Wold Net Daily. At that time, he was wearing a shirt that said, "I open carry. I conceal carry. I am an American. I am Muslim. I am only dangerous if you're stupid."
After a security guard asked him to leave, Jaber made a second video in his car, showing his three handguns, two assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. As he displayed each gun and magazine, he made several comments including, "be scared, be very scared, be terrified."
The Christian Worldview conference has been branded by a local newspaper as "anti-Islam," which prompted several dozen protesters to stand outside the hotel with signs denouncing the speakers as "intolerant" and "Islamophobic."
Speakers at the event argued that their message had nothing to do with hatred for Muslims, but it warns against Islamic law, which they say would also affect moderate Muslims.
On April 19, Jaber reportedly made another threatening post challenging Americans who oppose him to a "shoot out."
After his Facebook video went viral, he made another video in which he tried to defend himself, saying he is not a threat.
"I am not the threat. There is no news here. I don't give a [expletive] about what they tell you in mainstream media," he said.
The 45-year-old Jaber has been charged with one count of terrorist threat, which is a class 5 felony that carries a punishment of up to five years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000.
Brannon Howse, a radio host and one of the speakers at the conference, called for the resignation of the Sioux Falls Police Chief and Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman "for letting this man be on the street for 12 days when there was an abundance of evidence that this man was a threat to the public."