A St. Louis Park man has been charged with felony terroristic threats benefitting a gang, after police found the picture of the man's tattoo on a social network that an officer felt threatened his life.
Antonio Jenkins Jr., 20, posted a picture of his tattoo -- depicting a pig dressed as a Minneapolis police officer with a person holding a gun in the pig's mouth -- on a social-networking site in late October, according to a Thursday, Nov. 8, news release from Minneapolis police about the charges.
The tattoo also showed the name and badge number of the officer, who works in an area associated with the Bloods gang, according to police.
Jenkins posted a note with the picture saying the tattoo represented the officer getting his "brains blown out," and named the officer again, police said.
The officer took the posting as a threat against his life.
In early November, Jenkins was pulled over by police, who saw the tattoo. He admitted the tattoo could cause violence against the officer and admitted in a statement that he got the tattoo in anger after an incident involving the officer in August 2011.
Graffiti threatening the same officer was found in an apartment frequented by Bloods gang members in September, police said.
Terroristic threats involve directly or indirectly committing crime with the purpose of terrorizing another, according to state law. If convicted, Jenkins faces up to 10 years in prison or a fine up to $10,000 or both.
State law allows five years to be added to the maximum sentence for a person who commits a felony to promote gang-related criminal activity.
Jenkins is in custody at the Hennepin County jail.
Copyright 2012 - Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
