A Queens man who told federal agents he wanted to join the far-right Proud Boys group was charged with a weapons offense on Wednesday after messages he posted on social media around the time of the Capitol riot raised alarms, according to prosecutors and court documents.

The man, Eduard Florea, had been detained late Tuesday after a search of his home turned up an arsenal of over 1,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, two dozen shotgun rounds, 75 military-style combat knives, two hatchets and two swords, prosecutors said. No gun was found.

The arrest of Mr. Florea, a 40-year-old software engineer, came amid an intensifying nationwide manhunt for those who broke into the U.S. Capitol last week as part of a violent rampage by supporters of President Trump who wanted to overturn the election results.

Though Mr. Florea was not one of the numerous people being pursued for participating in the riot, law enforcement officials considered him menacing enough to arrive in an armored vehicle at his home to arrest him. His lawyer, taking issue with the approach, described the vehicle as a “military tank.”

Among the comments that caused the authorities concern and prompted the search of his house, the complaint says, was one in which Mr. Florea appeared to threaten the Rev. Raphael Warnock, Democrat of Georgia, around the time Mr. Warnock was declared the winner of a U.S. Senate seat.

At around 1 a.m. on Jan. 6, while posting under the name “LoneWolfWar” in a group thread about Mr. Warnock on the social media website Parler, the complaint says, Mr. Florea wrote that “dead men can’t pass laws,” with an obscenity added for emphasis.

Later that day, also on Parler, Mr. Florea wrote of having three cars of “armed patriots” in a “caravan” headed to Washington, the complaint says. As the Capitol riot unfolded, he wrote that the time for peace and civility was over and that “here in New York we are target rich.”

“I will fight so help me god,” he added.

At a bail hearing in Federal District Court in Brooklyn that was held remotely, Mr. Florea’s lawyer pointed out the F.B.I. had concluded that her client, despite his online bravado, did not have a car and had not gone to Washington.

Nonetheless, the tenor of his social media comments was ominous enough to heighten the authorities’ interest, especially when matched with his status as a felon, according to prosecutors and the complaint.

In 2014, Mr. Florea was found guilty of illegal gun possession after a search of the Staten Island home where he was living turned up a stockpile that included a semiautomatic shotgun and an AR-15 assault rifle, a federal prosecutor said at the hearing on Wednesday.

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Mr. Florea bought the guns legally outside New York City, but was not supposed to have them within the five boroughs, his lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, said at the hearing. He served a year in jail as a result of the conviction, she said.

Mr. Florea is now charged federally with being a felon in possession of ammunition. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Questioned by F.B.I. agents after he was taken into custody on Tuesday, Mr. Florea said he supported the Proud Boys, a far-right organization that has endorsed violence and Mr. Trump, and had applied to join the group’s ranks, a federal prosecutor said at the bail hearing.

He told the agents that he had gone to Washington with Proud Boys members in December and had vandalized a church there, but was not yet a member of the group because he had not attended the required number of meetings, the prosecutor said.

Capitol Riot Fallout

From Riot to Impeachment

The riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and the ongoing fallout:

• • As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the riot.
  • A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.
  • Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.
  • Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.
  • The House has begun proceedings on an article of impeachment. It accuses the president of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.

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