The demand for racism certainly exceeds the supply in most of America. That even applies in the South where cops say an 18-year-old black male named Pharrell Smith pretended to be a racist white man when he threatened to shoot blacks at the Lee County (Alabama) Fair.
Unfortunately for Mr. Smith, he didn’t cover his tracks very well and within a few days, Alabama authorities tracked him down to Lafayette, Louisiana, and arrested him there.
What was he thinking? Did he suppose police wouldn’t diligently investigate an online threat to kill people, especially a hate crime targeting African-Americans?
Or was this just an effort to create the appearance that white racists exist where they don’t?
WEEKEND RECAP: A Lafayette 18-year-old will face a terror charge after threatening to shoot Black people at the upcoming Opelika Fair. https://t.co/dv10treATo
— WRBL News 3 (@wrblnews3) October 9, 2022
From AL.com:
A Black Louisiana teenager has been identified as the person who posted a social media message late last month that threatened to kill Black people at an Alabama fair and used white supremacist imagery, police said Thursday.
Pharrell Smith, 18, of Lafayette, La., was arrested by Lafayette police Thursday on unrelated charges and is expected to be extradited to Alabama to face a felony charge of making a terroristic threat once he is released from custody in Louisiana, Opelika police said.
Opelika police began investigating the Facebook post Sept. 19 where the poster, later identified as Smith, said he and his friends “are coming to [the] Opelika Alabama fair to kill every NEGRO that we lay eye contact on so be prepared. WHITE POWER.”
The poster’s profile included the Confederate battle flag and twice said they were going to attend the Lee County Fair from Oct. 4 to Oct. 8.
Opelika police traced the social media account to a home in Lafayette and identified Smith as a suspect.
Mr. Smith’s days of posing as a white racist and posting racist terror threats on Facebook are likely over. Good work to law enforcement in identifying the suspect.