Coleman Thomas Blevins, left and inset, was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Photo on the left from court documents; Evidence photo and mug shot from Kerr County Sheriff’s Office)
A Texas man who posed in a photo on Snapchat holding an assault-style rifle and wrote, “I have no problem spending the rest of my life in prison” for shooting up a Walmart was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
Coleman Thomas Blevins learned his fate this week after pleading guilty in November to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from the 2021 threat, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Officials said the case came to light on May 27, 2021, when an undercover officer got into the private Snapchat group Blevins had formed and noted he and others were “having radical talk regarding harming persons,” according to court documents.
The officer said Blevins had been making plans for a mass shooting, and authorities believed he could pull it off.
“I’m going to Walmart,” authorities said he messaged the group on May 27, 2021, followed by a photo depicting himself holding a black assault-style rifle.
“I have no problem spending the rest of my life in prison for Shootings (sic) up Walmart,” authorities said he posted in another message.
“Soon thereafter, Blevins sent a message indicating that he wanted to kill Americans,” court documents said.
He was arrested the following day on a warrant for a terroristic threat to create public fear of serious bodily injury, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
In a search of his apartment in the 200 block of Spence Street, investigators found 370 rounds of .223 ammunition, 59 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, and 127 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, court documents said. Investigators also found a black AR-15 .223 rifle — the one he posed with in the Snapchat message — with four magazines in his roommate’s vehicle.
Authorities also seized “radical ideology paraphernalia,” including books, flags, and handwritten documents, officials said.
The Anti-Defamation League reported in a post that among the books found were “The Turner Diaries,” “Revolt Against the Modern World,” “Harassment Architecture,” and the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Blevins was booked into the Kerr County Jail, north of San Antonio, on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm that stemmed from a drug conviction, officials said.
As investigators began looking into his social media activity, they learned that the Walmart threat wasn’t the first threatening post. He had posted pictures of himself holding guns and ammunition three previous times, authorities said.
“Threats to carry out mass shootings are reprehensible,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza said at the time of the arrest. “Thanks to the quick work of our law enforcement partners, this threat remained just that and did not turn into a tragic event. This case demonstrates our commitment to peel back the veneer of online anonymity and aggressively pursue and prosecute those who threaten harm to our community.”
Aaron Tapp, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office, said then that Blevins’ threat was real, and he had access to weapons that “would have allowed him to carry out those threats.”
Sheriff Larry Leitha said the plot was “well on the way to happening.”
“Our investigators did outstanding work in this case, and possibly saved many lives,” he said. “The plot interrupted in this case is unthinkable.”
Prosecutors sought 78 months and three years of supervised release, “given Blevins’ conduct, to deter others, and protect the public from further crimes by Blevins,” according to the government’s sentencing memo.
“This is not a rudimentary firearms possession case,” the memo said. “The posts made by Blevins are alarming, particularly in this District where a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart occurred less than two years prior to Blevins’ threats.”
“Blevins did not merely make posts without intending to drive the veracity of his threats home,” the document added. “Nor did he merely possess firearms privately without informing others of his armed-and-readiness. The public posts of himself possessing weapons were timed and calculated to enhance Blevins’ authenticity relative to his Walmart comment and reinforce his commitment to carrying through with the acts he threatened. The court should take him at his word.”
Blevins’ attorney countered in his sentencing memo, arguing for 27 months of custody and a one-year suspended sentence. He said his client admits he was wrong and accepts full responsibility after snapping a selfie at a gun shop and posting it with “a reprehensible statement” to a Snapchat group.
“To begin with, the fleeting moment of possession in question took place in the controlled environment of a gun shop,” said the attorney, Lance Kennedy. “Mr. Blevins picked it up not to buy or use, but rather to snap a photo for his group chat. His actions, no doubt, were ill-advised, but the context belies the Government’s suggestion that he was ‘reinforc[ing] his commitment’ to the putative threat to others which accompanied the photo. Not only did he lack the capacity to carry out any such threat — the firearm was locked up, unloaded, and secure under the store’s control — he also clearly lacked the intent. After all, he made no efforts to buy the gun or take it off site, and he owns no firearms of his own.”
“According to Mr. Blevins, these were born of immaturity, foolishness, and a yearning for attention.”
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