TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) — A man charged in federal court with illegally possessing a machine gun was driving in a crowd at Tuskegee University when gunfire was seen coming from the car in a shooting that left one dead and dozens wounded, according to court documents.
Jeremiah Williams, 20, was arrested on Thursday and faces a federal charge of possession of a machine gun. Williams was charged after months of investigation unrelated to the shooting at Tuskegee, but court documents related to his arrest place him at the school on the night of the shooting and reveal new details about the chaotic and fatal homecoming party that rocked the small campus in early November.
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The campus of Tuskegee University is seen Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Police inspect vehicles for identification as they enter Tuskegee University, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Homecoming parade floats sit on the campus of Tuskegee University a day after a shooting occurred, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows evidence markers as law enforcement work at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
Jaquez Myrick, 25, was arrested on the night of the shooting, after he was found at the university with a Glock pistol that had a machine gun conversion device. Neither Myrick nor Williams are accused of shooting anyone. It is still unclear who was responsible for the death of 18-year-old La’Tavion Johnson, of Troy, Alabama, who the coroner said was not a student at Tuskegee.
Lawyers for Williams and Myrick did not respond to requests for comment.
Law enforcement agencies started investigating Williams over the summer after a search warrant revealed Williams and another man repeatedly discussed the manufacturing and distributing of machine gun conversion devises over text messages, according to a complaint written by a special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In late September, machine gun conversion devises and a 3D printer that appeared to be used to manufacture the devices were seized from the man's home in Montgomery.
On Thursday a federal search warrant of Williams' residence in Montgomery yielded an “AR type firearm” that had indications that it was previously equipped with a machine gun conversion device, the complaint said.
Before he was arrested, Williams posted photos and videos online of himself driving a white Dodge Charger at Tuskegee around the time of the shooting, the complaint said. Court documents describe at least one video that appears to show the car moving through the crowd while gun shots can be heard. The complaint did not specify whether the gunshots appear to be coming from Williams’ car.
Williams captioned the video “Thank god we was okay,” according to the complaint.
A witness described the first shots coming from a car that Williams was driving, the complaint said. It is unclear what exactly prompted the gunfire, but a witness said the gunshots "appeared to be an attempt to clear a path” so the vehicle could get through the crowd of the party.
The complaint did not specify who specifically was firing a weapon from Williams' car.
Williams denies firing his weapon on the night of the shooting. When asked if passengers in his vehicle fired their weapons, Williams said he couldn’t have known “because he was watching where he was driving,” the complaint said.
Guns with conversion devices have been used in several mass shootings, including one that left four dead at a 16-year-old's birthday party in Alabama last year and another that left six people dead at a bar district in Sacramento, California.
“It takes two or three seconds to put in some of these devices into a firearm to make that firearm into a machine gun instantly,” Steve Dettelbach, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said in AP’s report on the weapons earlier this year.
Following the shooting, Tuskegee University President Dr. Mark A. Brown canceled classes and announced new security measures for the campus, including additional campus safety officers, new cameras and permanent metal detectors. Brown also replaced the head of security on the campus.
“It is our responsibility to secure the campus, and we move on so that our students can successfully complete what they came here for: an education,” Brown said at a news conference on Thursday.
The campus of Tuskegee University is seen Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Police inspect vehicles for identification as they enter Tuskegee University, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Homecoming parade floats sit on the campus of Tuskegee University a day after a shooting occurred, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows evidence markers as law enforcement work at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows law enforcement working at the scene of a shooting at Tuskegee University, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Tuskegee, Ala. (WSFA via AP)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil ’s federal police arrested Tuesday five officers accused of plotting a coup that included plans to overthrow the government following the 2022 elections and kill then-President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, authorities said.
The five also planned to kill Lula's running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The arrested included four special operations military personnel, one of whom is a retired brigadier general, and a federal police officer.
The police said they also carried out three search warrants along with other measures, including seizing the suspects' passports and preventing them from contacting others. It was not clear when charges would be officially raised against the five suspects.
“The objective was to prevent the inauguration of the legitimately elected government and undermine the free exercise of democracy and the authority of Brazil’s judiciary,” de Moraes, who authorized the arrests, said of the plot in his order.
“These actions, peaking between November and December 2022, were part of a broader plan to carry out a coup d’état,” he added.
Lula returned as Brazil’s president for a third, non-consecutive term after narrowly defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October 2022. Bolsonaro, who frequently cast doubt on the election results without providing evidence and never conceded, left for the United States days before Lula’s January 2023 inauguration.
In the aftermath of the elections, die-hard Bolsonaro supporters staged nationwide protests challenging the results, closing highways and camping outside military installations. That culminated in a Jan. 8, 2023 uprising, when thousands of demonstrators stormed government buildings in the capital of Brasilia a week after Lula’s inauguration, seeking to oust him from power.
Retired Brig. Gen. Mário Fernandes, one of the officers arrested Tuesday, played a key role in linking these pro-Bolsonaro protest camps to Bolsonaro's Cabinet, according to details of the investigation that were included in the judge’s order and that were seen by The Associated Press.
Fernandes served as interim general secretary in Bolsonaro’s Cabinet from October 2020 until the end of his term. Police said they found evidence that he outlined a plan to kill de Moraes, Lula and Alckmin and visited the protest camps outside military installations, including at the army headquarters in Brasilia. According to the police, there's evidence that Fernandes gave instructions and financial support to the protesters.
Fernandes' plan, according to the document, also considered different scenarios — such as using explosives or poison at an official event — to assassinate the judge.
Bolsonaro had long railed against the Supreme Court, focusing his ire on de Moraes. The former president's supporters consider de Moraes their chief enemy.
The judge led a five-year probe into fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, which has led to the ban of some far-right allies and supporters from social media and even some prison terms.
De Moraes also presided over the nation’s top electoral court when it ruled Bolsonaro ineligible for office until 2030, finding that he had abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the validity of the 2022 election result.
Bolsonaro is also being investigated for a slew of potential crimes, including whether he was involved in inciting the capital uprising to oust his successor.
Fernandes’ plan also described a scenario of poisoning Lula. The federal police officer arrested Tuesday, Wladimir Matos Soares, allegedly provided the other military coup plotters with information about Lula’s security.
The document Tuesday contained no indication that any attempt to carry out an assassination on Lula or Alckmin was put into motion. However, investigators found messages and documents indicating that the plotters were monitoring and following de Moraes at the time.
Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, appeared to seize on that, saying no assassination attempt actually took place and claimed that “as repugnant as it is to think about killing someone, it’s not a crime.”
However, Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes told local TV network Globonews on Tuesday afternoon that the alleged actions went beyond just plotting and that they were in the process of implementation.
A document that police previously seized from another arrested military officer, Lt. Col. Hélio Ferreira Lima, detailed a plan to overthrow the elected government, including orchestrating a probe into alleged election fraud and calling for new elections with a presidential decree backed by Congress.
Investigators had previously found another document outlining a so-called Crisis Cabinet of 11 military personnel and headed by two high-ranking generals from Bolsonaro's administration, who would assume power after an attempted coup.
Police have also found evidence that some of these documents were printed inside the presidential palace during Bolsonaro's term and that part of the plan was discussed at the residence of his running mate, former defense minister Gen. Braga Walter Braga Netto.
In March, two top Brazilian military leaders told police that Bolsonaro had presented them a plan for him to remain in power after losing the 2022 election. However, both refused to take part in the plan and warned Bolsonaro they would arrest him if he tried it, according to judicial documents released earlier this year.
Lula was informed of the arrests on Tuesday morning, according to media reports, as he was hosting the final day of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro where the Brazilian leader was to meet President Joe Biden and others. Lula made no mention of the arrests during his opening speech at the summit.
The army later said none of the arrested suspects were involved in providing security for the G20 but declined further comment the ongoing investigation.
Last Wednesday, a man set off an explosion outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia, which de Moraes described as a consequence of frequent far-right attacks and hate speech targeting the country’s institutions.
Federal police are investigating the blast as terrorism, according to the force's director, Andrei Passos Rodrigues.
President Joe Biden and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet at the G20 Leader's Summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, Pool)
President Joe Biden and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet at the G20 Leader's Summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, Pool)
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
