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Police lead a man away from Phoenix Comicon at the Phoenix Convention Center on Thursday, May 25. Mathew Sterling, 29, is accused of threatening to harm police officers and a performer at the comic convention. (Courtesy of Monica Ivicevic)
The man who police say was carrying an arsenal at Phoenix Comicon when he threatened to kill officers and an actor appearing there has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Mathew Sterling, 29, of Mesa, made the not-guilty plea Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Sterling is charged with attempted first-degree murder, four counts of attempted aggravated assault, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, misconduct involving body armor and one count of misconduct involving weapons, according to court documents.
Court records show that Phoenix police received a phone call from a woman in Hawthorne, California, who had received multiple Facebook messages from Sterling who said he was armed and planned to stage a showdown with police. Records also state he had taken pictures of officers at the event and posted them online.
READ: Comicon prop-weapon ban, added security measures cause long lines
Within 11 minutes of receiving that report, Phoenix police located Sterling and arrested him after he attempted to resist arrest, court records state.
According to court documents, Sterling called himself “the Punisher,” a character from a comic book who punishes people for wrongdoing, and he plotted to kill bad officers.
Sterling told police that he called bad officers “Aphrodite officers” and he can differentiate between the good ones and the bad ones, court records state. He said he would shoot the officers he deemed bad and also intended on “finishing the job” with the performer, Jason David Frank, someone Sterling claimed to have stabbed 15 years prior, according to court records.
Sterling is due back in court on July 25 for a pretrial conference before Commissioner Barbara Spencer.
MORE: Read Phoenix police’s Form IV report on Sterling’s arrest
From larger-than-life cosplay to a marriage proposal, here are the best things we saw at Phoenix Comicon 2017.
Wochit
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Our favorite costumes from Sunday, May 28, Day 4 of the convention.
Becca Smouse/azcentral
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Our favorite costumes from Saturday, May 27, Day 3 of the convention.
Wendy Killeen/azcentral.com
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Phoenix Comicon crowds on Saturday, May 27, 2017 at Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
Rob Schumacher/azcentral.com
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Mary Graeber, 56, Cave Creek, dressed as Mary Poppins, always dreamed of meeting Dick Van Dyke. Saturday, she got her chance at Phoenix Comicon.
Tom Tingle/azcentral.com
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Darth Vader — aka Alonzo Reyes, 7, of Gilbert — shows the power of the dark side to a Stormtrooper at Comicon at Phoenix Convention Center on May 26, 2017. Rob Schumacher/azcentral.com
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Our favorite costumes from the beginning of the convention.
Wochit
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Azcentral’s Kellie Hwang updates the situation at Phoenix Comicon where security has been heightened a day after a man was arrested.
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Long lines formed at Comicon due to the props ban and added security after a man was arrested with real weapons at the convention Thursday. Tom Tingle/ azcentral.com
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Thousands brave the heat and long waits in line to enter the Phoenix Convention Center for Comicon 2017 Friday, May 26, 2017. Tom Tingle/azcentral.com
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Police said a 30-year-old man was arrested after making menacing social-media posts about officers and had weapons inside the Convention Center. Azcentral’s Kellie Hwang brings you the story from the scene. Patrick Breen/azcentral.com
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Police lead a man away from Phoenix Comicon at the Phoenix Convention Center on Thursday, May 25. Mathew Sterling, 29, is accused of threatening to harm police officers and a performer at the comic convention. (Courtesy of Monica Ivicevic)
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Phoenix police Sgt. Mercedes Fortune discusses the incident with an armed man who was arrested at Phoenix Comicon on May 25, 2017. Kellie Hwang/azcentral.com
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Phoenix Comicon opened at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix on May 25, 2017. A cosplay participant talks about his motivation for attending the annual event.
Tom Tingle/azcentral.com
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Phoenix Comicon gets underway on May 25, 2017. The four-day entertainment and comic convention is taking place at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix.
Tom Tingle/azcentral.com
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Phoenix Comicon 2017 will be bigger than ever in downtown Phoenix.
Wochit
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The best of Phoenix Comicon 2017
Phoenix Comicon 2017 Cosplay Sunday
Phoenix Comicon 2017 Cosplay Saturday
Time lapse of crowds at Phoenix Comicon Saturday
Meeting Dick Van Dyke
Darth Vader shows the power of the dark side at Comicon
Phoenix Comicon 2017 Cosplay Thursday-Friday
Cosplayers respond day after armed man was arrested at Phoenix Comicon
Long lines at Comicon due to props ban
Battling long lines and the heat at Comicon
Man with multiple guns arrested at Phoenix Comicon
Raw video: Man arrested in weapons case at Comicon
Comicon incident press conference
Eager cosplayers attend Phoenix Comicon Day 1
Phoenix Comicon gets underway
Phoenix Comicon 5/25-28
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