Brian Johnson, a fitness influencer who goes by the moniker of “Liver King” on social media, was arrested earlier this week in Texas for making what authorities said were “threatening statements” online against comedian Joe Rogan.
At around 6 p.m. on June 24, Johnson, 47, was taken into custody at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin “without incident,” Clara Ash, a public information specialist with the Austin Police Department, told The Epoch Times via email on Thursday.
According to Ash, detectives were notified that morning about threats Johnson had posted against Rogan, 57, on Instagram.
On June 23, the influencer published a series of videos challenging Rogan to a fight. In one of the videos, Johnson is shirtless, wearing only a wolf headdress and sweatpants, and appears to be holding two gold-plated firearms.
In a subsequent video, Johnson is recording himself in a selfie style while riding a jet ski across a lake.
Stand-up comic Rogan, who hosts “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, resides in Austin. Ash said detectives reviewed the posts and observed that Johnson was traveling to Texas’s capital city “while continuing to make threatening statements.”
“Detectives contacted Mr. Rogan, who stated he had never had any interaction with Johnson and considered the posts to be threatening,” the public information specialist told The Epoch Times. “Based on this information, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Johnson on a charge of Terroristic Threat.”
Johnson was transported to the Travis County Jail and charged with making a terroristic threat, which is a Class B misdemeanor.
“This remains an active investigation,” Ash said. “There is no further information is available at this time.”
The Epoch Times reached out to a representative for Rogan for comment, but a response was not received by publication time.
Johnson, who has since been released from jail, could not immediately be reached for a statement.
