An Alabama man has been arrested after claiming to be “Michael the Angel of Death” before appearing at a Southern California church to make threatening statements to a priest. Joshua Michael Richardson was found to be in possession of a cache of weapons upon his arrest.
According to a press release from the Orange County district attorney, the ordeal began on Aug. 19, when Richardson, going by the alias Joshua Michael Jericho, sent a menacing email to St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado Canyon, California. In the email, Richardson said that he intended to “do the Lord’s reaping.”
Richardson also claimed to be the “rider of the pale horse,” a reference to the four horsemen described in the book of Revelation. Richardson stated that he was going to ride his pale horse from Alabama to California “to do the Lord’s reaping before his harvest.”
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In addition to holding public services, St. Michael’s Abbey is also the permanent residence of “dozens of parishioners who live on the church’s compound.”
Richardson, 38, said that he selected St. Michael’s because it observes Michaelmas, also called the Feast of St. Michael. Michael is regarded in some Christian traditions as the mightiest warrior among the archangels. Michaelmas is observed by Roman Catholics on Sept. 29.
On Aug. 26, Richardson attended afternoon church services at St. Michael’s. He is accused of following a priest into a private area of the church following one service and making threatening remarks. Richardson allegedly told the priest that “he came to do the Lord’s work, to separate the [wheat] from the weeds, and that he rode his white pale horse from Alabama.”
Jesus’ parable about wheat and weeds in Matthew 13 depicts the end times.
The priest called authorities after the interaction, and Richardson was arrested in Santa Monica two days later on Aug. 28.
When Richardson was arrested, he was “in possession of six high-capacity gun magazines, brass knuckles, and a sword. Investigators also recovered several knives, a stun gun, body armor, duct tape, rope, walk-talkies and other tactical gear from the man’s truck.”
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Despite having gun magazines, Richardson was not found to be in possession of a firearm.
