Missouri Man Threatens To "Kill Every Gay Person I Can"

Edward Terry (image via Missouri Dept of Corrections)

A St. Louis man has been charged with making a terrorist threat after allegedly telling PrideFest organizers he planned to show up at this year’s Pride parade with his guns and “kill every gay person I can before I kill myself.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports 49-year-old Edward Terry created a fake email address using the name of a woman he used to live with in order to send his threat to a parade organizer for PrideSTL.

But, after being notified by the recipient, the FBI tracked the account to Terry’s cell phone.

Terry’s bail was set at $20,000.

St. Louis’ Pride Parade regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators.

Marty Zuniga, vice president of PrideFest, said in a statement to the press that the organization works "hard to produce an event that is safe for all participants."

“PrideFest takes all threats seriously and works with local law enforcement," added Zuniga.

The St. Louis Pride Parade was in the news earlier this week after organizers reversed themselves on whether to allow police officers to march in uniform in the June 30 event.

The Post-Dispatch reports that Pride St. Louis requested officers not take part in the parade “citing sensitivities surrounding the 50-year anniversary of the New York police raid on the Stonewall Inn bar that helped spur the gay-rights movement.”

But after meetings and discussions with police and LGBTQ community leaders, the decision was made to allow LGBTQ police officers to march in uniform.

Mayor Lyda Krewson told the Post-Dispatch, “Exclusion of our police or, frankly, anyone is not in the spirit of our city.”

St. Louis: Felony Charge For Man Who Drove Through Transgender Vigil

The St. Louis man, Mark Coloa, who drove his car through a throng of protesters Wednesday night has been arrested and charged with a felony count of resisting arrest by fleeing and two misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident and operating a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner.

From the St. Louis Dispatch:

Colao pushed his car through the protesters, he gave the middle finger to a police officer who pulled alongside his car, and “accelerated aggressively” as he left the scene, according to charging documents.

He initially refused to stop for officers, police say. They caught up to him after he “violently applied his brakes” to avoid striking traffic several blocks away, at Chouteau Avenue and Grand Boulevard, where he was arrested, according to police.

Three protesters suffered minor injuries.

The protesters had come from an evening vigil remembering Kiwi Herring, a transgender woman who was shot and killed by police after she allegedly cut a police officer with a knife.

Watch the surveillance video below.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

St. Louis: Driver Injures 3 Demonstrators At Trans Lives Matter Memorial

Three demonstrators at a Trans Lives Matter memorial in St. Louis were injured last night when a driver drove through the crowd.

The vigil was organized in memory of Kiwi Herring, a trans woman who died earlier this week when she allegedly cut a police officer with a knife.

The demonstrators blocked the road frustrating drivers who mostly found other venues to drive around the crowd.

But one driver in a Mercedes, after honking his horn in an attempt to dispel the crowd, drove through the protesters.

Pix from car that drove through protesters, car stopped was surrounded, then drove through, one person ended up on hood, only minor injuries pic.twitter.com/EYNxSJARoF

— David Carson (@PDPJ) August 24, 2017

More from LGBTQ Nation:

Police and those present at the vigil are giving different accounts of how the situation escalated.

Schron Jackson, a police spokeswoman, gave the following statement to the River Front Times:

Tonight, a group of protesters marched from the Transgender Memorial to the intersection of Manchester and Sarah were they blocked traffic in all directions. A vehicle approached, stopped, honked its horn and attempted to drive around the protesters.

The protesters surrounded the vehicle and began striking it with their hands and a flag pole. Several protesters also kicked and jumped on top of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle (white male) proceeded to drive away when three protesters ( 2 white females and 1 white male) fell from the vehicle. The three protesters reported minor injuries, but refused medical attention on the scene.

Police attempted to stop driver of vehicle who initially refused to stop. He stopped about a block away from the incident and was taken into custody for felony fleeing. The incident was captured on video. The investigation is ongoing.

Protester Keith Rose disputes that account in a Facebook post, saying no one hit the car until the driver began running into people. He said the driver gave the finger to the crowd before driving into them.

“The SLMPD is going out of its way to protect this man who tried to run over people just a couple weeks after the Charlottesville attack. This kind of immunity from consequences only emboldens the people who want to harm protesters,” he writes.

St. Louis County Council passes LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance

The St. Louis County Council has passed LGBT non-discrimination protections:

An overflow crowd of more than 250 people spilled out of the council chambers in Clayton; 92 of them signed up to address the council, and most took advantage of that opportunity in a public comments segment that lasted more than two hours.

And as could be expected on an issue that involved religion and civil rights, most of them spoke fervently.

The ordinance adds protections for people in employment, housing and public accommodations in unincorporated areas, regardless of their sexual orientation. It also expands protections on the basis of gender and disability.

The bill passed 4-3 and includes exemptions for religious organizations.

From the passage of marriage equality in three more states (Maryland, Maine, Washington) by popular vote in the recent election, to the re-election of the most gay-friendly President we've ever had, to the election of the first openly lesbian US Senator (Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin) to the possible repeal of Prop 8 after tomorrow's news from SCOTUS, this has the potential to be the best month ever for LGBT rights and people.