Luna, who remains out of custody on a $250,000 bond, is charged with one felony count of possession of an assault weapon, which is illegal to possess in California.
Court papers allege that Luna, a former Cathedral City police officer, was an adherent to the QAnon conspiracy theory and a right-wing militia group involved in storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
John Candias, a Rialto Police Department detective and member of the task force, wrote in a declaration in support of arrest warrant that a search of the defendant s home yielded an unregistered Smith and Wesson assault rifle under his bed.
PSUSD officer arrested in domestic extremism probe pleads not guilty
A Palm Springs Unified School District patrol officer arrested during an investigation into domestic extremism by an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force pleaded not guilty today to a felony weapons charge.
Alfredo Luna Jr., 41, was arrested on Inauguration Day,
Jan. 20, stemming from a prior search of his home that turned up an unregistered assault rifle, according to court papers.
Luna was arraigned at the Larson Justice Center in Indio before Riverside County Superior Court Judge James Hawkins, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for July 23.
Luna, who remains out of custody on a $250,000 bond, is charged with one felony count of possession of an assault weapon, which is illegal to possess in California.
A former Cathedral City police officer and Palm Springs Unified School District patrol officer who was arrested on Inauguration Day pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of illegally owning an assault rifle discovered during a search of his home as part of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation of domestic extremism.
Alfredo Luna Jr., 41, was working as a patrol officer for Palm Springs Unified School District at the time of his arrest. Luna was put on paid administrative leave soon after, but no longer works for that department as of April 7.
Luna submitted his plea to Judge James Hawkins at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, and requested that his bail be reduced from $250,000 to $35,000. The request was not ruled on during Monday s hearing and he is due in court again to discuss the matter on June 18.