Doj Farm Men Detred in the Nashville weapon’s escuesta

A man from Tennessee faces federal charges after allegedly flying a firearm to protesters earlier this month, with prosecutors who express their concern for their “desire to commit an act of mass violence,” according to judicial documents.

Elijah Millar, 19, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was accused on Friday of illegal possession of a firearm, announced the Department of Justice. It faces up to 15 years in a federal prison and a maximum fine of $ 250,000 if it is convicted.

According to prosecutors, Millar, dressed in completely black clothes and a mask, faced protesters in a “No Kings” protest near the Bicentennial Shopping Center of Nashville on June 14.

The witnesses reported that Millar spit the protesters, shouted and wielded a 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol before being detained by the officers of the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, said the DOJ.

Only three days after being released on bail, Millar was arrested again when the officers of the Murfreesboro Police Department discovered another 9 mm loaded firearm at their waist, authorities said.

Judicial documents say that Millar was previously subject to an emergency conservation order of 2023 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, who forbade him to have firearms after finding that he was “at risk of substantial damage to his health, safety and well -being.”

A subsequent order in September 2024 designated it as a “disabled person who needs attention” and further restricted their access to firearms.

“The right to peacefully protest the government’s action is guaranteed by the first amendment and cannot be infringed by armed persons whose actions are endangered,” said the interim prosecutor of the United States, Robert E. McGuare.

On Sunday, prosecutors urged the Court to keep Millar in custody, citing publications on social networks and online activity that suggested “a desire to commit an act of mass violence.”

The incident occurs in augmented tensions in “non -kings” protests throughout the country. In a separate incident the same day in Utah, a protest became mortal when a security volunteer accidentally shot and killed a protester while responding to another armed person who supposedly approached the crowd with a rifle.

The case is being investigated by the Nashville field office of the FBI, the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department and the Murfreesboro Police Department.

Alexander Mallin of ABC News contributed to this report.