A man who was fired by the U.S. Postal Service tried to apply for unemployment benefits, then threatened a shooting when he was denied, federal prosecutors said.
A federal jury found Quadri Garnes, 48, of Brooklyn, New York, guilty of transmission of threats to injure after a five-day trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a Dec. 13 news release.
His federal defender didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Dec. 16. After Garnes lost his job as a mail carrier at the Homecrest post office in Brooklyn in May 2022, his application for unemployment benefits was rejected because he worked less than 60 days, according to prosecutors.
While on the job, Garnes had crashed his postal truck into two vehicles before his firing, prosecutors said.
A few months later, in September 2022, Garnes sought unemployment benefits a second time by calling the New York State Department of Labor, according to prosecutors.
While on the phone with Garnes, a state DOL employee informed him that he hadn’t worked long enough for the USPS to qualify for benefits, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, Garnes became frustrated and said during the 45-minute phone call: “I can’t get what I worked for” and “so I have to go to the Post Office and shoot the Post Office up, right?” His threats to shoot and kill USPS employees extended to state DOL employees, prosecutors said.