SALT LAKE CITY — Charges have been filed against a West Valley man police say was threatening police officers and found heavily armed on his way to protests in downtown Salt Lake City.
Yuri Neves Silva, 27, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with making a terroristic threat, a second-degree felony; drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors.
Between May 31 and June 1, Silva posted messages on social media about the protests happening downtown and offered to sell five firearms, according to charging documents.
After Salt Lake City enacted a citywide curfew on May 31, Silva posted a video on Snapchat and Facebook in which he threatened Salt Lake and West Valley police officers, the charges state. He wrote “Ima kill you,” “Yo gonna die” and “It’s about to get real active” and used several expletives and derogatory terms while talking about the police, according to the charges.
On June 1, Silva threatened to post the addresses of police officers and made a reference to an AK-47 rifle, the charges state.
“To that officer in my neighborhood you put that cop car in the garage real quick...,” Silva posted on Facebook, according to the charges.
Later that night, police say Silva and Christian Hernandez, 27, of Magna, were on their way to the protests in Salt Lake City when they were stopped by West Valley police and FBI agents.
A handgun was found in a backpack in the back seat of their car, according to the charges.
“In the trunk of the vehicle officers discovered an UZI SMG, .22 with a folding stock, an AK-47 rifle, and a Diamondback DB15 rifle,” the charges state.
Police later stated they believed many lives may have been saved because of Silva’s arrest.
Hernandez was charged June 12 in 3rd District Court with four counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors.
Hernandez had a baggie of marijuana in his vehicle, the charges state, as well as “additional marijuana and numerous boxes of ammunition” in his Magna home.