Minneapolis man charged with carrying loaded gun, knives in courthouse faces new counts

A Minneapolis man charged with allegedly carrying a loaded gun and knives into the Hennepin County courthouse last year to protest the death of George Floyd has been charged with new drug and riot counts.

While Thomas W. Moseley, 29, was not charged with any new weapons counts, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said Thursday that he is under investigation for a possible gun crime, and that they found several guns, ammunition, a hatchet and a bullet-resistant vest panel, among other items, in his pickup truck after the courthouse incident during which he loudly yelled, "Kill Derek Chauvin!"

Former Minneapolis police officer Chauvin and three of his former colleagues — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are charged in Floyd's May 25 death.

Moseley's attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office issued a warrant for Moseley's arrest and noted that the Minnesota Freedom Fund had previously bailed him out of jail twice. The Minnesota Freedom Fund is a nonprofit that pays bail and immigration bond for people who can't afford to, and received a $30 million surge in donations following Floyd's death.

Moseley was booked into the county jail Wednesday afternoon and was in custody as of Thursday afternoon. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Moseley was charged earlier this month in Hennepin County District Court with three counts of fifth-degree possession in one case and second-degree riot while armed with a dangerous weapon in a second case.

He was charged last October with one count of possession of a dangerous weapon after the courthouse incident on Oct. 15. He yelled on the courthouse skyway level after a hearing in the case attended by all four defense teams but none of the defendants.

He was charged Oct. 19 with one count of first-degree damage to property for damaging the Minneapolis Police Fifth Precinct.

According to a Jan. 15 criminal complaint on the drug charges: After the courthouse incident police located Moseley's pickup truck two blocks away parked on the street. They smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, saw two red plastic gas containers in the truck bed and saw a black handgun case on the floor inside.

Moseley's truck was towed and later searched, and found to allegedly contain: a revolver with ammunition, a semiautomatic pistol, a Ruger AR 5.556 rifle with five magazines and 166 rounds of ammunition, a Savage Arms 775 shotgun with shotgun shells, a loaded Smith and Wesson 9-mm handgun and three loaded magazines, a speed loader for a revolver, two loaded Glock magazines, a loaded 30-round extended magazine, a hatchet, a crowbar, a black bandanna, pellets for an air gun, a gas mask, spray paint, a bullet-resistant vest ballistic panel and a bullhorn.

Authorities also allegedly found a bag of mushrooms, a jar of powder that tested positive for cocaine and suspected marijuana in the truck.

Police also searched the Anoka County home he was living in at the time and allegedly found boxes for some of the items in the truck. They also found a Remington rifle with a scope and marijuana, the charges said.

According to a Jan. 4 criminal complaint on the riot charge: Police monitoring a demonstration in downtown Minneapolis on Dec. 31 arrested Moseley and several others after because of "riotous behavior."

Police allegedly found a knife on Moseley.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib