Trevor Hughes

USA TODAY

DENVER — A Colorado Air Force veteran accused of making Internet threats to kill police officers — and inciting others to do the same — is being released to a halfway house and ordered to stay away from computers and cellphones.

Jeremiah M. Perez, 33, of Colorado Springs, was arrested Dec. 22 after Google alerted FBI agents to threats posted to YouTube and Google+. Perez was active-duty Air Force from 2001-2006 but is now at least partially medically disabled due to joint injuries.

Prosecutors asked that Perez remained jailed, but Magistrate Judge Boyd Boland said he was unconvinced the defendant posed an actual threat to the community.

"He may not access the Internet for any purpose," Boland said in ordering Perez to be released to a halfway house pending his next court appearance Jan. 9. "Nor may he possess a computer in any form, including a cellphone."

Prosecutor Judith Smith argued that Perez's threats were the real danger, not the mechanism by which he made them: "He said he did. He said he wanted to. And he said he wanted others to. The government felt it couldn't take any chances."

Public defender Brian Leedy said Perez assisted the FBI in investigating his online comments, and has no access to the kinds of weapons necessary to carry out his threats.

Boland said he believes if Perez cannot access the Internet, he poses little risk.

"What's out there is out there," Boland said. "Nothing's going to change that.

Perez was arrested at his home after investigators said they tracked the comments back to his computer. FBI agents said Perez admitted making the comments, and said he was upset and frustrated with police officers because of unspecified past incidents connected to his Latino heritage.

Written by the user "Vets Hunting Cops," one comment on Google-owned YouTube said "not a single cop is good," and "they are all bad and are all targets now." The user also claimed his group had killed six retired sheriffs and cops, and was going to "hunt" two Colorado police officers. According to the FBI, the posts began earlier this year, but the tone of the posts escalated after the death of Michael Brown and the grand jury decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot him.

Wrote the FBI in the criminal complaint: "Perez stated that he was going to continue posting the antagonizing comments until law enforcement intervened ... he knew that law enforcement officers would see the post and his intent was for them to be fearful after reading the post."

Perez also admitted to performing Internet searches about killing politicians, police officers and Fox News commentators.

If convicted, Perez faces up to five years in federal prison, and not more than a $250,000 fine, for transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce.

"If you threaten to kill — or incite others to kill — police officers, you will get some very serious attention from this office, the FBI, and other appropriate authorities," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh in announcing Perez's arrest.

Perez's arrest came just days after two New York City police officers were shot dead in their patrol car. Investigators believe the man who shot them, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, posted his intentions on an Instagram account before acting, apparently posting threats that showed a desire for revenge in the deaths of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., and Brown in Ferguson, Mo.