Winter Park man can't possess gun for 1 year after making threat to Walmart on Facebook

In August he was ordered to stay 1,000 feet from any Walmart

WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Winter Park Police Department said a man accused of making a threat to Walmart on Facebook can't possess or purchase any gun for one year.

According to officials, the investigation began Aug. 6 after Richard D. Clayton, 26 of Winter Park, made a threat on Facebook saying: "3 more days of probation left then I get my AR-15 back. Don't go to Walmart next week."

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The Risk Protection Order for Clayton goes into effect on Friday and will last the full year, according to Winter Park police.

What is a Risk Protection Order?

Since March 2018, authorities in Florida can take guns away from those they find to be a potential harm to themselves or others. 

"The Winter Park Police Department takes threats against our community very seriously, and we will continue to use whatever tools given to us to prevent violence in our community," Winter Park police said in a statement.

Investigators told News 6 they were unsure if Clayton was referencing a specific Walmart location when he put the post online.

In August, Clayton was arrested at his parents' Winter Park home. Winter Park police detailed how Clayton was uncooperative and belligerent during the arrest, at one point telling an officer: "Officer, I hope that the next call you go to, you get blown away and killed. God, I pray that happens."

Court paperwork details how Clayton repeatedly asked an officer if he was Hispanic and that "they are what is wrong with this country. They come in and are ruining everything."

"Investigators say Clayton appears to believe in the white supremacist ideology and has a history of posting threats on Facebook using fictitious accounts," officials said in a news release.

At one point, Clayton repeatedly asked an officer if he was a Nazi, then proceeded to expose himself and threatened to urinate in the police car. After an officer told Clayton he was not Hispanic, Clayton replied, "OK, well then, I guess I won't pee in your car, then."

Through court paperwork, News 6 has uncovered why Clayton's guns were no longer in his possession. During St. Patrick's Day weekend in 2018, Clayton was charged with driving under the influence, possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

Documents detailed how Clayton ended up pleading no contest to the DUI misdemeanor charge, and because of that case, a judge ordered Clayton to not possess any firearms while he was on probation for one year.

During that probation period, paperwork shows Clayton was arrested in Pinellas County last September after deputies said they had to stop the Clearwater Super Boat Race because Clayton was drunk and swam naked in the middle of it.
 


About the Authors:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.