COLUMBUS – A Columbus man who allegedly brought a rifle to a downtown protest last week has been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Convicted felon charged with possessing loaded gun at Columbus protest June 24, 2020
Federal complaint filed on 31yo Ronnie Earl Murdock Jr. @SDOHnews @USAttyDeVillers https://t.co/r4w4iUBNpH pic.twitter.com/RDbL0Z6vMr
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) June 27, 2020
According to court documents filed on Friday, an officer in the Columbus Police Emergency Operations Center monitoring a demonstration near Broad and Front streets on June 24 recognized Ronnie Murdock Jr., 31, and saw him holding a rifle.
The officer knew that Murdock was a convicted felon and not allowed to own, possess or control a firearm, according to a release from the office of U.S. attorney David DeVillers.
SWAT officers arrested Murdock and recovered a semiautomatic 2.23-caliber rifle with 31 live rounds of ammunition in the magazine.
Murdock pleaded guilty in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in 2007 to attempted burglary and in October 2016 to robbery. Both crimes are felonies.
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is punishable by up to ten years in prison.