Defendant who said had gun and made threats in DHS office in court

A man arrested after reportedly being overheard saying he had a gun and making verbal threats at the Baxter County Department of Human Services office made an appearance in circuit court October 6.

Thirty-four-year-old DeMarkus Brown earlier entered a not guilty plea to charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and terroristic threatening.

Brown is being represented by the Public Defender’s office. A notice has been filed with the court that Brown will rely on a mental disease or defect defense.

According to paperwork in the case file, Brown was due to have a psychological examination on September 11.

Late last month, Brown filed a handwritten motion “for speedy judgment.” He said the Baxter County Detention Center was making him sick and that being incarcerated was causing “losses and damages” to his homelife.

Brown wrote in another document filed in his case that he had been “in the middle of moving to the state” because of a job transfer when he was arrested.

He claims he is a “licensed security officer” with Allied Universal. The company is described on its website as a “leading provider of security services” with a global workforce of approximately 770,000.

Records do show a valid security guard license for a DeMarkus Brown with an address in Los Angeles County, California. The license was issued in 2019 and is valid until April 30, 2027.

The license verification contains no birth date or other identifying information.

THE ARREST

On the jail log, Brown’s address is listed as Los Angeles. The probable cause affidavit alleges he is a felon, citing the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).

On April 9, Mountain Home police responded to the Department of Human Services (DHS) office where they found Brown and took him into custody without incident.

DHS staff said Brown had come into the office to make an application for SNAP benefits. A witness reported hearing Brown say “I’m going to kill you, you’ve got notice. You hear that?” The witness thought Brown was talking on a telephone, but he was apparently only talking to himself.

Brown was also alleged to say, “me and you ain’t going to be friends. I’m from out of state and handling business.”

At one point, he reapproached the staff member who had given him the SNAP application where he made another claim of having a gun. “if everything goes okay back there, it will be fine, understand?”

There is no indication in the probable cause affidavit as to what type of weapon Brown possessed, if any.

He has been an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center for just over five months with bond set at $250,000.

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