Texas man accused of threatening conservative convention

SAN ANTONIO -- A Texas man remained jailed Sunday authorities accused him of making threats against a convention of young conservative activists held last month in Florida.

Alejandro Richard Velasquez Gomez, 19, of San Antonio, was arrested earlier this month after FBI agents alleged he posted threats on social media to carry out a mass attack on the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit convention.

The event was held from July 22 through July 24 in Tampa. Turning Point is a Donald Trump-aligned group that organizes young people on college campuses into conservative activism.

FBI agents allege Velasquez posted on Instagram that the first day of the convention would be “the day of retribution the day I will have revenge against all of humanity,” according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Antonio.

Velasquez had bought a plane ticket to fly from Austin to Tampa on July 22 but canceled the ticket the night before his flight, FBI agents said.

According to the complaint, agents said they believed Velasquez had planned an attack similar to a violent rampage in 2014 in which Elliot Rodger, 22, killed six students and wounded more than a dozen others near the University of California, Santa Barbara, before killing himself.

The complaint did not clarify why the event was allegedly targeted, but Tampa police took the threat seriously and obtained an arrest warrant.

Velasquez was arrested in San Antonio and charged with making threatening interstate communications. He was also charged with possession of child pornography for images allegedly found on his phone.

An attorney for Velasquez didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment Sunday.

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Actor Gary Busey faces sex offense charges at Monster Mania Convention in New Jersey

Cherry Hill Police responded to the hotel for the report of a sex offense. As a result of the investigation, the police department charged Gary Busey, 78, of Malibu, California, with two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, one count of criminal attempt/criminal sexual contact and one count of harassment. CNN has reached out to representatives of Busey for comment. It was not immediately known if Busey had an attorney representing him in this matter. Cherry Hill Police Chief Robert Kempf confirmed to CNN on Saturday evening that the incident involved Busey, who was one of the attendees at the event. Busey is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in the 1978 movie "The Buddy Holly Story," for which he was nominated for an Oscar for best actor.

A law firm representing Monster Mania told CNN in a statement on Saturday evening, "Our client, Monster-Mania LLC, is assisting authorities in their investigation into an alleged incident involving attendees and a celebrity guest at its convention in Cherry Hill, New Jersey last weekend. Immediately upon receiving a complaint from the attendee, the celebrity guest was removed from the convention and instructed not to return. Monster-Mania also encouraged the attendees to contact the police to file a report."

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, police said, and anyone with additional information is urged to contact the Cherry Hill Police Department at 856-432-8834.

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Southern Baptist Convention says it's under DOJ investigation

The Southern Baptist Convention announced Friday it is under investigation by the Department of Justice following the release of a 288-page report that found that the denomination's top leaders ignored sexual abuse allegations and disparaged survivors for more than two decades.

"Individually and collectively each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation," a statement from organization leaders read.

It continued, "While we continue to grieve and lament past mistakes related to sexual abuse, current leades across the SBC have demonstrated a firm conviction to address those issues of the past and are implementing measures to ensure they are never repeated in the future."

The report released in May was conducted by Guidepost Solutions, an independent firm contracted by the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. It found that survivors and concerned Southern Baptists continuously shared allegations with the executive committee.

A cross and Bible sculpture stand outside the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., May 24, 2022.

Holly Meyer/AP

The report found that those who came forward were "met, time and time again, with resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility from some within the EC."

The report also found that SBC leaders were concerned about church liability and its reputation and ignored concerns "even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in ministry with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation."

In a May interview with "ABC News Live," then-president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ed Litton said the damning independent investigative report on sex abuse allegations was "overdue."

"The rumors were always out there that these things were happening," Litton said on "ABC News Live." "There were several attempts made at our convention meetings to bring this to light. But they were very successfully pushed down."

Sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches was spotlighted in 2019 by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News in a report that documented hundreds of cases. Several of the accused perpetrators remained in ministry.

The investigation from local journalists led to thousands of delegates voting to create a task force charged with overseeing a third-party review of the denomination's leaders.

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