Armed Man Arrested Outside of El Paso Immigrant Center "On His Way to Portland"

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An armed man arrested Wednesday for making threats outside of an El Paso immigrant community center is allegedly en route to Portland.

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NBC News reports that 21-year-old Thomas Bartram spent Wednesday attending a vigil for victims of last weekend's mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart—a massacre that, according to a letter left by the gunman, was meant to target Hispanic immigrants. Later Wednesday afternoon, Bartram had parked his truck, emblazoned with a banner of Trump dressed as Rambo and InfoWars bumper stickers, outside of Casa Carmelita, a community center for Hispanic immigrants in El Paso.

Bartram, wearing blue latex gloves and brandishing a knife, allegedly made threats to passersby from the driver's side window. Police arrested Bartram for suspicious activity, but released him "after it was determined that no criminal offense had been committed," according to the El Paso Police Department. Officers did not confiscate any of the weapons found on Bartram.

NBC spoke with Bartram on the phone for clarification. Here's what they learned:

Bartram acknowledged he was legally carrying a pistol but denied waving it around, and said the gloves and knife could be explained. “I was eating prickly pears,” he said. The white powder was a protein supplement Bartram said he takes along with other Alex Jones’ branded nutritional supplements. Bartram is no longer in El Paso but on his way to Portland, Oregon, to attend a protest that local officials have warned is expected to turn violent.

Community center staff weren't satisfied with the police department's inaction.

"The young white male with clear intent to conduct an armed assault on a local migrant solidarity community center has been released by El Paso PD," reads a Facebook post from Casa Carmelita. "An eyewitness saw him brandishing a gun and attempting to enter our building, women were fleeing down the street, warning neighbors as they ran away. We watched officers removing clips of ammo from his person."

"One officer acknowledged that if they had not arrived when they did, Thomas was likely to have committed acts which would be 'a different situation,'" the post continues. "They released him shortly after, on our block."

It appears Bartram is one of the many people who's planning on attending an August 17 rally in Portland organized by the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist club that's been deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.