Police said Travis Ryan Hayson is accused of making terroristic threats after investigators discovered his comments on YouTube.
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio man’s YouTube comments have landed him in jail. Investigators say Travis Ryan Hayson is facing charges of making terroristic threats after allegedly posting online about shooting and killing protesters.
Some of the comments referenced San Antonio ahead of the “No Kings” rally held Saturday. Hayson was taken into custody that same day as thousands of protesters filled the streets of downtown San Antonio.
An arrest warrant outlines 17 disturbing comments investigators say Hayson posted on various YouTube videos over the past month. Most of the videos focus on protests and civil unrest in Los Angeles.
Local Defense Attorney Joseph Hoelscher, who is not connected to the case, said Hayson appeared to go beyond the protections of free speech.
“Our First Amendment rights are not unlimited,” Hoelscher said.
After reviewing the arrest warrant, Hoelscher said he believes the charges are justified.
The warrant states: “The above-listed threatening and racially motivated comments are posted on the associated videos referencing committing mass violence to the general public.”
Investigators say they were able to identify Hayson through his YouTube account and IP address.
One of the videos he commented on was a local news report from another station about the Texas National Guard being deployed ahead of anti-ICE protests.
According to police, Hayson wrote: “Time to kill some trash. Texas doesn’t need the National Guard. We’ll kill them ourselves.”
Another comment on the same video read: “Texas just got a new hunting season.”
In a different video posted by a YouTuber about the LA protests, police say Hayson wrote: “I wish they would try this in Texas. I bet my truck can rush down a **** ton of them and then my car can finish the rest.”
Authorities say the comments included racial slurs targeting Latino and Black communities, along with threats directed at police.
“Where he clearly crossed the line is when he advocated for actually killing protesters, when he advocated for assaulting police officers and when he stated in the past tense that he had done so,” Hoelscher said.
According to court records, Hayson posted his $20,000 bond on the same day as his arrest.
Hoelscher said Hayson could potentially face hate crime charges but that decision would be up to the district attorney’s office. As of Monday, we’ve reached out to the DA and are awaiting a response.
“The volume of comments, the different context of comments — I don’t think he has the ability to say, ‘Oh, I was just fooling around,’” Hoelscher said. “At a certain point, it’s not just a joke anymore.”