A Montgomery County man who stands accused of firing multiple shots into the Montgomery County Democratic Committee’s (MCDC) office on Inauguration Day has been bailed out of county jail against the wishes of prosecutors.
Anthony Nero, 48, of Eagleville, was taken into custody on Feb. 18 and charged with domestic terrorism, terroristic threats, carrying a firearm without a license and reckless endangerment. Investigators said that prior to the shots fired incident on Jan. 20, Nero sent the following threatening email on Jan. 7 to MCDC headquarters:
“Comment just wanted to let your offices know that you should probably beef up security. With this stolen election and Coup d’etat, violence is the only language you bloodsuckers understand. F*** you and your BLM bullshit along with ANTIFA. We WILL end this insurrection. Again, TRUMP YOU! You f***ing traitors. Random acts of violence are difficult to investigate. Have fun.” (Note: expletives altered.)
Nearly two weeks later, on Jan. 20, MCDC headquarters in Norristown was struck by three bullets. Police immediately launched an investigation, which traced the IP address of sender’s email and lead them Nero’s residence and cell phone, according to the district attorney’s office.
A search warrant was executed, and a loaded 45-caliber Springfield Armory firearm registered to Nero was reportedly found in his vehicle, investigators said.
At Nero’s preliminary arraignment on Feb. 18, Magisterial District Judge Richard Welsh set bail at 10% of $50,000 cash, and court records indicate that Nero promptly posted bail and we freed from custody. Hours after posting bail, Nero’s Facebook account — littered with claims of a stolen election and calls for people to buy ammunition — was taken offline.
North Penn Now has obtained and verified a series of screen shots from Nero’s account, showing that ahead of the alleged attack on the MCDC headquarters, the suspects account was strewn with pictures and angry posts, which allude to enthusiasm to react to the current political events with violence.
On Dec. 1, 2020, a comment was posted to Nero’s account making a comparison to the JFK assassination and asserting that criminals in the intelligence community had conspired to steal the election.
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shot of a post made to Nero’s account on Dec. 1, 2020. (Credit: North Penn Now) |
The following day, a post was made to Nero’s account featuring a link to an article on WND.com —formerly known as the hyper-partisan conservative media outlet World Net Daily — claiming a three-star general was pushing then-President Trump to use his emergency powers.
In the text portion of the post, it said “Ammo Up. It’s hopefully about to get real.”
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shot of a post made to Nero’s account on Dec. 2, 2020. (Credit: North Penn Now) |
Then, on the day of the insurrection at the Capitol, a post was made to Nero’s account referring to the insurrectionists as “patriots” and expressing his dismay that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not killed during the incident.
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shot of a post made to Nero’s account on Jan. 6, 2021. (Credit: North Penn Now) |
Other posts included complaints of being censored on Facebook, expressing disdain for the Black Lives Matter protests and “history being re-written because some people think its racist.” Additionally, several days prior to Nero’s arrest a post was made showing the damage a 5.56 NATO round caused to a milk jug, asserting that nearly 100 million Americans had such weapons in their home.
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A post
made to Nero’s Facebook account sometime between Feb. 14 and Feb. 15. (Credit:
North Penn Now) |
Nero’s account then went inactive on Feb. 19. It is unclear if the account was taken down by Facebook due to Nero’s arrest, if his account was temporarily banned or it someone deactivated the account on their own. North Penn Now has not yet received a response from Facebook’s press team regarding the closure of the account, however we will update this story when the information is received.
District Attorney’s Office Requests Bail Revocation
In a yet-to-be heard motion filed by the district attorney’s office, Assistant District Attorney Kathleen McLaughlin argues that Nero’s bail should be either increased or revoked.
McLaughlin’s three-fold reasoning for the revocation request appears in the filing as follows:
Prosecutors contend that the combination of those three factors demonstrate that that Nero poses a grave risk of danger to specific victims, as well as the surrounding community.
“There is no condition or combination of conditions that this court has the power to impose to adequately ensure safety, and there is a significant likelihood that [Nero] will flee to avoid the consequences of his actions,” reads line 10 of the motion.
The district attorney’s communications director, Kate Delano, said a hearing for the motion has not yet been scheduled.
See also:
Man Charged With Domestic Terrorism In Connection With Shots Fired Incident At MCDC Headquarters
Montgomery County Democratic Headquarters Struck By Gunfire On Inauguration Day
Perkasie Man Accused Of Assaulting Female Store Clerk Over Mask Request: Police
Montco DA Announces Takedown Of Multi-County Gun Trafficking Organization
Gale Says He Won’t Be ‘Cancelled,’ As Public Fight With Fellow Commissioners Continues
