A man who threatened to burn down Manhattan’s Diamond District, which is largely populated by Orthodox Jews, has been taken into custody.
The man, who identified himself as “Ace Burns,” made the threat during a live interview on Fox News Saturday, warning that fellow agitators were ready to set fire to the Diamond District if the mayor and governor didn’t meet their demands.
JUST NOW: police arrest man from my earlier interview who made apparent threat on air to bring gasoline to diamond district
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) June 6, 2020
“Today, I’m giving a demonstration from Barclay’s Center at 6 p.m. to City Hall, and that’s the first stop — and we’re hoping [Mayor] De Blasio and [Gov.] Cuomo come out and talk to us and give the youth some direction,” Burns told Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich.
“But if they don’t, then [the] next stop is the Diamond District. And gasoline, thanks to Trump, is awfully cheap. So we’re giving them a chance right now to do the right thing.”
Earlier in the interview, he had showed Heinrich an “#FTP” hashtag apparently written in magic marker on his arm. “You know, I’m a leader of this FTP movement. It means a lot of things. It can mean ‘free the people,’ it can mean ‘for the people,’ it could also mean ‘fire to property — and that’s very possible.'” The most common meaning for the acronym—which Burns neglected to mention on the air— is “f-ck the police.”
When Fox News asked when the protests would end, the man said that was the wrong question. “The question should be what policies are we going to enact to make people feel safe?” he told Heinrich.
https://twitter.com/TXTrumpette89/status/1269423908408745984?s=20
On Twitter Saturday, Burns posted video of himself camped out in front of the Barclay Center, where he beckoned Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo to give him and the city’s “youth” “a seat at the table.”
He said this group would march on City Hall at 6:00 p.m. and “start the revolution.”
March to City Hall from @barclayscenter tonight 6pm!! Get here for the #revolution!! #ftp spread the word!!! @ Barclays Center https://t.co/yFqLBpHKoA
— Ace Burns (@AceBurns2020) June 6, 2020
Marching at 6pm from @barclayscenter pic.twitter.com/ZTYb5IqLrJ
— Ace Burns (@AceBurns2020) June 6, 2020
Still Camped in front of @barclayscenter with no supplies because @uber driver stole my stuff and @tmobile phone! No matter I’m staying until @NYGovCuomo comes to talk #FTP pic.twitter.com/rw5mql40xw
— Ace Burns (@AceBurns2020) June 5, 2020