Edward Terry was arrested and charged with making a terrorist threat following an email he sent to St Louis Pride. The Missouri man sent the email threatening that he would “come to pride fest with my guns to kill every gay person I can before I kill myself,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which cited court documents.
The man has been convicted of several crimes in the past including the aggravated sexual assault of a 43 year-old woman in 1995 in Illinois and multiple theft charges. Terry is currently on the state of Missouri’s sex offender registry.
In 2013 Terry pleaded guilty to visiting a park with a playground which was in violation of the restrictions placed on him as a registered sex offender.
When Terry was in jail he received psychological evaluation and was deemed fit to stand trial.
Terry set up a fake email account in the name of a woman who was a former housemate to send the threat. However, when St Louis Pride reached out to the FBI about the threat, investigators found that the fake email account had been set up with Terry’s real phone number.
The vice president of St Louis PrideFest said in a statement that they work hard “to produce an event that is safe for all participants.” But refused to comment on the threats: “We don’t comment on ongoing investigations.”
Terry is currently in the custody of St Louis County jail.
St Louis Pride’s website describes their increased security since the 2016 Pulse mass shooting in Orlando:
“We work with a variety of different institutions to ensure the safety of every person and have increased the security presence at PrideFest due to events such as the Pulse shooting in Orlando. We utilize a combination of hired security (both marked and unmarked), as well as local police. We encourage each person to remain alert to their surroundings and to report any suspicious behaviour to security personnel. To secure the perimeter and keep our guests, vendors, and staff safe, there is bike rack fencing outlining the festival perimeter.”
In 2018 there were 300,000 people in attendance at the St. Louis Pride event this year St Louis Pride takes place June 29-30.
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