A Converse man is accused of threatening city officials in Facebook comments about a proposed property tax increase, according to arrest records.
Timothy Alejos, 38, is charged with making a terroristic threat to impair public service, place the public in fear of serious bodily injury and influence government. He was arrested in another county Aug. 18 and extradited to the Bexar County Jail on Tuesday. A judge set his bail at $75,000.
According to an affidavit supporting Alejos’ arrest, he posted two comments Aug. 14 — one on a KSAT 12 Facebook post and another on a post by Citizen Veteran Journalists of Bexar County.
The first was posted in response to a KSAT report about a proposed property tax increase, which would be the city’s first in 34 years. Alejos wrote: “I don’t care who is protected, or who is on the chopping block, if I see any city officials doing better than the average person, they will be dealt with, and definitely not on a ballot.”
The comment also included a water-gun emoji.
The second comment was posted in response to a Citizen Veteran Journalists of Bexar County post about the city’s proposed tax increase and spending on double magistration, a process that requires people arrested in the city to go through two separate hearings before a judge before bail is set.
In the comments on that post, Alejos expressed his anger about the situation using profanity and emojis, according to the affidavit.
“gonna start taking out cops, judges and lawyers, the city officials (water gun emoji),” the affidavit quotes Alejos as writing.
San Antonio police then submitted an emergency disclosure request to Facebook and obtained information that investigators used to identify Alejos.