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FBI: Man threatened to behead cop who put Eric Garner in chokehold

Posted at 11:09 AM, Feb 06, 2015
and last updated 2015-02-06 11:09:40-05

(CNN) — A Michigan man is accused of threatening to behead the police officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold.

Alvaro Eduardo Guzman-Telles, 29, said in a Facebook post in December he was “going to personally kill and behead Daniel Pantaleo” and that “this is a written threat and has to be taken extremely seriously,” the FBI alleges in a federal indictment.

He was arrested last month and faces a charge of interstate transmission of threatening communications, according to the indictment.

Pantaleo, a New York City police officer, put Garner in a chokehold while trying to arrest him last July on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes. Garner died after the encounter, but a grand jury declined in December to indict Pantaleo, sparking large demonstrations across the nation.

Guzman-Telles also allegedly said on Facebook to “kill all cops on sight. No matter the circumstances.”

The New York office of the FBI tracked the social media posts back to an address in Sterling Heights, Michigan, where Guzman-Telles’ mother was questioned. She said she was aware of the postings and told her son to delete them for she feared the posts would get him in trouble, the FBI said.