‘Joker’ impersonator arrested after a Facebook Live broadcast, Missouri police say

A man in a “Joker” costume and makeup scared people while he was filming himself on Facebook Live, Missouri police say.

Now he’s in jail, and the man’s supporters are calling for his freedom.

Jeremy Joseph Garnier, 51, was arrested Monday in University City, a suburb of St. Louis, on a first-degree felony charge of terrorist threat, according to a news release.

People called 911 to report that Garnier was making threats on a Facebook Live video broadcast. Police found him inside a business and arrested him.

An hour-long Facebook Live video that Garnier posted Monday was still online as of Wednesday afternoon, and you can see it here. Warning: It contains explicit language and may be disturbing to some viewers.

The video appears to show Garnier leave a residence in a long purple coat and makeup, then drive to a St. Louis shopping mall, quoting Heath Ledger’s Joker character from the Batman film “The Dark Knight.”

He then drives to another business where he speaks with people inside before filming his arrest on Facebook Live.

Garnier was in jail without bond.

Garnier is known as Uncle Dubb on his Facebook page, which has over 12,000 followers. His supporters were calling for him to be freed from jail through comments on the page, and one fan created a GoFundMe page to raise money for an attorney.

“Someone reported mistakenly that he was making ‘threats’ when he was only playing a role,” the GoFundMe page says. “While this was undoubtedly not Jeremy’s best decision considering the consequences...he was not threatening anyone.”