The man whose presence on campus sparked a campus safety advisory believed that an event at the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business was led by a visiting speaker attempting to abduct him for human trafficking.
Antonio Scales Jr., 27, was arrested shortly before noon on March 26 by the Henrico County Police Department and banned from campus after he attended a One Million Cups event where “an incident occurred,” according to URPD.
Scales was arrested in Henrico jurisdiction on charges of threat by letter, communication or electronic message, according to the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office.
In the leadup to his arrest, Scales garnered attention through social media, where an account linked to his name published thousands of posts in the span of two weeks that include death threats, pornography and conspiracy theories.
Entrepreneurship Professor Dale Fickett said that Scales’ fixation with UR began after he attended one of Fickett’s events for people interested in starting their own business. Soon after, Scales started to attend more of Fickett’s events, including One Million Cups.
One Million Cups is a program for entrepreneurs to network and share their experiences in the business world.
“Every Wednesday, 1 Million Cups provides a supportive, inclusive space for entrepreneurs and their communities to gather and connect, where they can work through business challenges and identify opportunities,” its website says.
Scales accused the featured speaker at the One Million Cups event he attended of plotting to traffick Scales and Fickett online. However, none of Scales’s posts provided evidence beyond the accusation. He wrote in a post on March 20 that the speaker “was allegedly aware of the human trafficking scheme and the fraudulent activities taking place behind the scenes.Whether he played a direct role or acted as an enabler, his involvement in the situation raises serious concerns about how deep this criminal enterprise ran.”
Scales mentioned and tagged Fickett on his Instagram multiple times over the last two weeks in relation to the supposed human trafficking scheme.
“Professor Fickett, a man of integrity, became a target of this smear campaign, facing false narratives aimed at undermining his reputation and credibility,” Scales wrote in a different Instagram post on March 20.
Fickett said that to him, Scales had only ever expressed interest in starting a graphic design business. He didn’t observe any concerning behavior during their interactions and knew very little about Scales’ personal life.
“I never saw him threaten anyone or act aggressively towards anyone,” Fickett said. “So I was really shocked when I learned that all of the social media activity was happening.”
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Scales was booked at Henrico County Regional Jail West and his next court date is scheduled in Henrico General District Court on Friday, April 4 at 8:30 a.m.
Contact managing editor Andrea Padilla at andrea.padilla@richmond.edu and Editor-in-chief Nick Mossman at Nick.Mossman@richmond.edu
Multimedia editor Christina Taylor and editor-in-chief emeritus Caitlin McCormack contributed to reporting.
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