Police Make Arrest in Violent Threat Toward Cary

Cary, NC – Cary police, as well as Federal and State Bureau of Investigation agents, arrested a Cary man for making a threat to attack Cary residents.

Threat and Arrest

On Tuesday, February 21, 2017, authorities arrested 27-year-old Cary resident Garrett Grimsley for threats of violence. According to affidavits by the arresting departments and the criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Grimsley used anonymous messaging service “Whisper” on Sunday, February 19, 2017 to tell people not to go to Cary.

In a follow-up message, Grimsley said the “kuffar” had trampled on “our rights” and spit in “our faces,” later telling people to “watch the news tomorrow” and that it would “only be the beginning.”

In Arabic, kuffar, the plural form of kafir, means “non-believers” and is used to describe non-Muslims, typically used in a derogatory fashion.

Grimsley’s message was intercepted by authorities with information from the cell phone provider used to make the posts. When Cary police, the FBI and the SBI raided Grimsley’s apartment in Weston Lakeside and arrested him, they also found an AK-47, multiple magazines and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.

Grimsley has not been charged with terrorism or terrorism-related threats. For now, his charges are transmitting a threat in interstate commerce to injure a person and cyberstalking.

In 2010, Grimsley was also convicted of assaulting a government employee.

This was not the only threat made in the Triangle this week, as the Lerner Jewish Community Day School in Durham had a bomb threat on Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

Story by staff reports. Photo by Hal Goodtree.