A Colorado man has been arrested by the FBI for posting an online threat about killing police officers on YouTube. The FBI's San Francisco office was tipped off by Google.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado said the man was detained without incident at his home in Colorado, if convicted he faces up to five years in federal prison.

Google urgently contacted the FBI's San Francisco office to report a comment on a YouTube video from someone going by the username "Vets Hunting Cops." The comment said in part "for every innocent citizen that cops kill we, veterans will kill retired helpless cops." [sic]

The comment referred to the Missouri police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in August. The arrest comes after two police officers were shot and killed in New York City, the shooter said it was revenge for the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of police officers.

The FBI tracked the user's profile to an address in Colorado Springs where it arrested the man, it said the "perceived anonymity of the Internet will not serve as a shield for espousing violence."

Source: Reuters | Image via 3dprint