Federal authorities on Friday arrested two men in Texas for allegedly planning to attack a HILLs VIP market and riot in downtown Austin.
The arrests came a day after the city released a video showing a man driving a truck through the parking lot of the HILL’s VIP Market in downtown, and the ensuing violence.
The arrest warrant issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Travis County says Tyler Mays, a 31-year-old Austin resident, was charged with one count of malicious wounding and one count each of malicious destruction of property and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
He also faces two counts of malicious damage to a federal building.
Mays was allegedly planning a demonstration against a planned meeting with President Donald Trump to address the opioid crisis in the city, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Matsumoto Shigematsu, 22, of Austin was also arrested and charged with two counts each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony, and destruction of a federal facility.
Both were being held in the Travis County Jail.
In addition to the arrests, the city also released a short video on Friday showing what appears to be a man who appears to act as an organizer in the attack.
In the video, a man wearing a camouflage shirt and carrying a backpack holds up a sign with the words “Shut Down the Hills.”
A man in a hooded sweatshirt, who appears similar to Mays’ alleged accomplice, can be seen talking to the camera and asking people to leave the market.
In another voice, the man can be heard saying, “If you want a good time, shut down the Halls.
If you want to be in the back of the line, shut the front.”
The video ends with the man in the hood speaking to the crowd, saying, “[We are] just a group of people who love this city and our community and we’re going to shut this place down.”
In addition, city officials said they have launched a website that allows people to submit reports of hate crimes to the police department.
