DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A Florida man was arrested in Daytona Beach on Thursday after law enforcement officers traced threatening comments the 45-year-old made during a PBS NewsHour livesteam on YouTube to his apartment, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified the Sheriff's Office on Thursday that they had traced written threats made during the PBS livestream to Leo Arong Jr.'s Daytona Beach apartment.
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The comments included anti-Semitic remarks and threats to "murder as many people as I can," according to the Sheriff's Office.
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Arong also appeared to identify as an incel, which refers to a misogynist group of men who identify themselves as "involuntarily celibate."
“I hate myself. I am uglier than the El Paso shooter, and girls don’t like me, so I will murder as many people as I can. Thank you," one post said, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's Office detectives, Daytona Beach police and FDLE agents went to Arong's apartment complex and they spoke with his neighbors, who said Arong had not been seen for a couple of weeks, according to the Sheriff's Office public information officer.
When authorities found Arong inside his home he confirmed he made the statements but said he didn't mean what he wrote and he was trying to "spoof" another commenter.
No guns were found at Arong's home.
Detectives said Arong is a U.S. Army veteran. They said there has previously been concern for his well-being and he is in need of veterans services.
Arong is charged with making written threats to kill or harm in a mass shooting or act of terrorism, which is a second-degree felony. He was booked into the Volusia County Jail and held without bail.