TAMPA | The Tampa Police Department (TPD) arrested a man Dec. 18 on the charge of threatening mass violence against members of the city’s LGBTQ community.
According to the department, a complainant alerted officers on the evening of Dec. 17 about a “concerning conversation” held on an unidentified dating application. After being rejected for an offer he made for companionship, Tampa resident Ralph J. Perkins threatened the entirety of Tampa’s gay community via social media.
Officers publicly shared three of the statements Dec. 18 following Perkins’ arrest. “I like to take a gun I like to wipe the whole gay community out in Tampa and then kill myself,” the first reads. The second asserts “that’s what I want to do that’s going to be my Christmas” and in the third, Perkins refers to himself as the “annihilator of the gay community.”
“That’s going to be my ultimate present to Tampa Florida is the annihilator the gay community before I kill myself,” it reads.
TPD shared Dec. 18 that officers were able to quickly confirm Perkins’ identity and begin an investigation into the matter. “Once an arrest warrant was obtained, Tampa Police detectives, accompanied by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies, responded to Perkins’ house in the county,” they shared.
Perkins was taken into custody and charged with Written Threats to Commit Mass Violence or an Act of Terrorism. TPD subsequently advised he provided a post-Miranda confession to the offense, sharing the news via social media.
According to public record, Perkins has a long history of charges and convictions. In 2004, he was found guilty of a sex offense in Madision, Alabama and became a registered sex offender. Hillsborough County charges include matters relating to stalking, trespassing and providing false information to law enforcement, and he was also arrested Oct. 15 by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for failing to register as a sexual offender as required.
Perkins is currently being held in the Hillsborough County Jail.
