A man who threatened Joel Osteen‘s Lakewood Church in Houston with a deadly gas attack on Christmas Eve has been indicted by a grand jury on a charge of federal terrorism. Aaron Suppes, 33, was arrested on Dec. 24 after making a bomb threat at Lakewood, where around 5,000 people were gathered for a candlelight service.
According to Chron, a court filing on March 5 says the jury determined that Suppes threatened “to commit an offense involving violence” against Lakewood’s head of security and that Suppes had “the intent to place a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury.”
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Lakewood Church Received Fake Bomb Threat in 2024
On Christmas Eve 2024, Aaron Suppes called the FBI tip line and said that he planned to release sarin nerve gas at Lakewood Church. The CDC says that sarin gas is “one of the most toxic and fast acting nerve agents.” Houston police and fire department officials showed up at the megachurch around 7 p.m. and coordinated with the church’s security team.
Using security cameras, officers located and arrested Suppes. They were able to determine that there was no immediate threat to Lakewood Church; near the church’s entrance, they found duffel bags that Suppes allegedly brought to Lakewood. The bags, which contained clothing and electronic devices, did not contain hazardous materials.
The next day, Suppes appeared in court, where he was charged with a third-degree felony terroristic threat. His bond was set for $15,000. Suppes reportedly was unemployed at the time of his arrest and had been unhoused for six months.
A police spokesperson said that Suppes had made a strange 911 call earlier that day “stating that him and his sister were being microwaved from overseas, whatever that means, so obviously having some mental issues.”
The spokesperson added, “At the end of the day, the threat was fake.”
Suppes also claimed that he was a pastor in Florida, Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Courtney Fischer, told Chron. Suppes made a county court appearance in January, where he was appointed an attorney and charged with making a terroristic threat.
