A 20-year-old Butler man is charged with trying to incite a riot in the city based on several social media posts he allegedly made in May.

“We loot we rob we set (expletive) on fire we do what have to be noticed,” was one of the suspected threats that Butler police said Jordan M. Erdos posted May 31 on his Facebook page.

“#NoJusticeNoPeace” was another post. His last suspected post, police allege, was “Riot in butler May 31st at 2:00. meet at the diamond park.”

The posts prompted a sweeping response from law enforcement agencies. They also generated attention and a relatively large turnout in downtown Butler, with a crowd protesting the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

There were several arrests, but no riot.

Six weeks after the social media-inspired event, police Tuesday charged Erdos with criminal solicitation to commit a riot and three counts of terroristic threats, all felonies. He also is charged with two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for him.

Erdos is already free on bail on unrelated charges that he attacked a broadcast news cameraman and damaged a Pittsburgh police vehicle during a Black Lives Matter rally May 30 in Pittsburgh.

[naviga:h3]Possible unrest[/naviga:h3]

Butler police said they were first notified of the possibility of unrest in the city May 31 when state police alerted them about someone using the Facebook name “On Beav,” who referred to a “riot” planned at Diamond Park.

Butler Police Chief Bob O'Neill subsequently alerted Butler County Sheriff Mike Slupe about the suspected threatening posts.

Slupe deployed a number of deputies to the county courthouse in response to the alleged threat. He also closed the county-owned Diamond Park, noting there was no permit issued for any protest there.

“The unknown is what we're preparing for,” he told the Butler Eagle the morning of May 31. “We're preparing for a number of people who may want to cause damage or harm to property — and in our case, the county property.”

To ready for any riot, O'Neill immediately called out five extra officers. Later, at the peak of the protest, there were 17 city officers on duty.

The law enforcement presence also included five or six Butler Township police officers, at least 20 deputies and 12 to 15 officers with the county's emergency services unit, authorities said.

[naviga:h3]Butler protest[/naviga:h3]

Between 300 and 400 protesters — and counter protesters — assembled during the day on both sides of Main Street around Diamond Park. The participants said they were there to protest the death of Floyd and to support Black Lives Matter.

Protests began in Minneapolis following Floyd's death May 25 after a police officer there pressed a knee on his neck until he stopped breathing. Floyd was Black and the officer is white.

The protests quickly spread to other U.S. cities, including Pittsburgh on May 30, and many turned violent. A number of cities sustained broken windows, burned-out buildings and ransacked stores.

During the hours-long Butler protest, police noted there were between 50 and 100 armed business owners and other citizens, some with AR-15 rifles, some with pistols.

“The group of armed citizens and veterans responded... to protect statues, businesses and property,” according to the criminal complaint against Erdos, “due to the posts viewed on Facebook that were made by Erdos,” who was linked to the “On Beav” account.

The protest continued past dusk and in the evening, police said, the crowd got “out of control” when the protesters “began fighting each other.”

Around 8 p.m., O'Neill deemed the protest an “unlawful assembly” and ordered everyone to disperse. But many did not heed the order, police said, as officers tried to clear Main Street.

“Items were thrown at police, including a bottle, a can of beer and a cigar,” court documents said. “An officer was struck and bit and another officer was threatened to be killed along with his K9 partner.”

Police eventually arrested eight people on charges, among them failure to disperse, disorderly conduct, aggravated assault, intent to commit riot, resisting arrest and terroristic threats.

[naviga:h3]Suspect sought[/naviga:h3]

Police said they tried unsuccessfully to contact Erdos during their investigation. They eventually spoke to his mother, who told investigators that she communicated with him via Facebook.

“(His mother) told (police) she was aware of the incendiary posts (of May 31),” documents said, “and told him to take the posts down.”

On June 25, Pittsburgh police arrested Erdos, stemming from the May 30 protest in that city.

The arrest, authorities said, was the result of a joint effort by police, the FBI and the newly-created, Pittsburgh-run Damage Assessment Accountability Task Force, according to the police complaint.

The task force was created with the intention of finding people who allegedly turned violent during the rally.

According to police, Erdos was seen in videos punching and kicking the cameraman and the police vehicle.

FBI agents met with Erdos at the home of his grandparents in Butler June 23, according to investigators. Pittsburgh police described Erdos as “gracious.”

He told authorities that he “went to just be part of the protest against the police, but got caught up in the emotions” of the event, police said. He denied damaging any police vehicles, and he stated that he did not “hurt or touch the cameraman.”

He is charged with aggravated assault, riot, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He was placed in the Allegheny County Jail June 26, court records showed, but released three days later after posting $10,000 bail.