Feds Arrest Felon Who Livestreamed Offer To Shoot Cops For $30k

Louisville, KY – A convicted felon who posted a video on Facebook Live offering to shoot the cops working in front of his house for $30,000 has been arrested.

U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman said 29-year-old Cortez Edwards was holding a semi-automatic rifle in the video on Sept. 23 when he livestreamed his offer to shoot Louisville police officers for a fee, WLKY reported.

That was the same day that a Jefferson County grand jury indicted one Louisville officer for shooting into Breonna Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment but did not recommend charges for the killing of Taylor, prompting another wave of violent riots to break out in the city.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron also announced on Sept. 23 that the special prosecutor’s investigation for the state had determined that the officers who fatally shot Taylor were justified when they returned fire after her boyfriend opened fire on them.

Two Louisville Metropolitan Police (LMPD) Department officers were shot by a rioter late that same night.

The U.S. attorney told reporters that Edwards asked people watching his live video to give him $30,000 “to shoot Louisville Metro Police Department officers on scene for a disturbance in the street in front of his residence,” WDRB reported.

Special agents executed a search warrant on Edwards’ home on Sunday, WLKY reported.

Edwards was reportedly sleeping on the couch with a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol when agents busted into his home on Sept. 27.

Police said there was also a toddler in a playpen in the same room, WLKY reported.

Authorities seized the gun and arrested Edwards.

The convicted felon was booked into the Oldham County Detention Center on Sunday morning, WDRB reported.

He was charged with felon in possession of a firearm, WLKY reported.

Edwards is facing up to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release if he is convicted of the charge, WDRB reported.

Federal prosecutors promised to continue to go after suspects who make threats against law enforcement officers.

“Louisville needs healing and safety for its citizens, not armed felons seeking bids to shoot police,” Coleman said. “Federal law enforcement here will continue to respond as one to swiftly mitigate threats to our city.”

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and LMPD are investigating the incident, WLKY reported.