Brandon James Bentley | Source: Greensboro Police Department
A heavily armed white man who seemingly had enough guns, other weapons and ammunition to start a small war was quietly arrested on the campus of a historically Black university (HBCU) in North Carolina last week, a new report has revealed.
After being pulled over for driving suspiciously, Brandon James Bentley, 27, was taken into custody on North Carolina A&T State University’s (NC A&T) campus in Greensboro early Thursday morning, according to local news outlet WXII 12. He was hit with multiple felony charges and accused of being violent and threatening law enforcement.
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“NC A&T officers told police Bentley was chasing unarmed security guards on the campus,” WXII reported.
From WXII:
Police said they discovered two handguns, two shotguns, one rifle, a crossbow, a machete, stun gun, hatchets, knives, choking devices, pepper spray, a blow dart gun, brass knuckles, and other weaponry in his vehicle. They also said he had more than 1,000 rounds of various ammunition.
Greensboro Police Department’s Hazardous Devices Team also responded due to a potential threat of an explosive device, which turned out to be fireworks.
Bentley was charged with the following:
Multiple weapons offenses including firearm on educational property, explosive device on educational property, weapon on educational property, carrying a concealed weapon, driving with revoked license, and reckless driving.
After appearing a court on Thursday, Bentley was held on a $100,000 bond and banned from NC A&T’s campus.
NC A&T released a statement after Bentley’s arrest:
On March 26 at approximately 4 a.m., Brandon James Bentley was arrested on the North Carolina A&T State University campus after being encountered driving unsafely in the area of Sullivan Street and Benbow Road.
After campus law enforcement discovered weapons in the vehicle, Bentley was immediately arrested, and the weapons confiscated. Because of the quick and decisive action of law enforcement, a campus alert was not issued, as the suspect no longer constituted an ongoing threat to campus safety.
The FBI, State Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Greensboro Police Department are in charge of an ongoing joint investigation into this incident. Bentley, who has no affiliation with A&T, has been banned from the North Carolina A&T campus.
The University remains committed to safety and security of our campus and will continue to use the emergency alert system in instances where threats are ongoing.
If Bentley is bonded out, he must stay away from any educational institutions as part of his conditional release, according to Fox 8 News.
A Facebook account bearing the name “Brandon Bentley” and featuring photos of a man who resembles the person arrested on NC A&T’s campus posted a screenshot on Friday of a text message exchange captioned with a reference to “the reason I’ve got charged,” suggesting he had already been bonded out.
The Facebook post blamed the charges on a “guy who’s been playing mind games on me.”
Bentley’s arrest comes more than a year after dozens of HBCUs were the targets of a spate of bomb threats.
In November, the FBI announced it planned to charge one juvenile with making racist threats against nearly five dozen HBCUs across the country.
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