A Minnesota man threatened to kill cops at a pro-Trump rally and sold privately made firearms to undercover agents, federal authorities said.
Dayton Charles Sauke, 22, of Owatonna, was charged Tuesday with possession of an unregistered firearm – a sawed-off shotgun – after he sold a gun for $1,500 to undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on Friday at a parking lot in Faribault, a federal complaint states.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota said Sauke used Snapchat to sell illegal firearms and drugs for months and posted in December a photo of a “sawn-off” shotgun in his car for sale.
He then threatened that “extremist violence” would descend upon a pro-Trump rally on Sunday at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul — as plans circulated for armed rallies there ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration but never materialized, the Star Tribune reported.
“Extremist violence at the MN capitol this weekend?” Sauke posted on Jan. 12, according to the complaint. “Even if I only kill 1 cops that’s more cops than antifa cop loves have ever killed.”
In a separate post, Sauke also urged others to kill politicians, authorities said.
“We’re all from the same cloth,” Sauke allegedly wrote. “Don’t be showing out for any politicians we gotta murder every single one of them.”
Sauke is accused of selling one firearm to the undercover agents for $1,500. They also agreed to buy two other firearms from Sauke, paying him another $900, the complaint shows.
Sauke told the agents during the buy that he sold 120 firearms last year. He also said he had a sawed-off shotgun in his car, federal authorities said.
Investigators began scouring Sauke’s Snapchat account in December after receiving a tip that he was allegedly hawking drugs and guns on the platform.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re a felon or not,” Sauke allegedly wrote in one post. “You should be conceal carrying everywhere you go in 2021. I can help you with that.”
Sauke made his initial court appearance Tuesday in Minneapolis, where he was ordered to remain in custody until his next hearing later this week, the Star Tribune reported.
Sauke’s federal public defender didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.