Cosplay influencer ‘Kit Noel’ arrested for threatening to blow up rival at Texas anime convention
A popular cosplayer was arrested on Sunday after she allegedly threatened to blow up a rival stall at an anime convention in Texas while they were arguing about gamer supplements online.
Kendra Noel Manning, a 25-year-old cosplayer better known as “kit noel” online, was charged with making a terroristic threat to impair public service — a third-degree felony that could see her exchange her whimsical cosplay outfits for an orange prison jumpsuit for the next decade if convicted.
Manning allegedly commented on another influencer’s Instagram that she would be “planting a bomb in their booth today” at the San Japan Anime + Gaming Convention in response to another comment she saw slamming Gamer Supps, an energy drink marketed almost exclusively to streamers.
An attendee of the convention, terrified that Manning was making a legitimate threat, reported her to the event’s management, who notified the police.
Manning was barred from entering the convention the following day and issued a criminal trespass.
Some of Manning’s comments and behavior at the convention sparked real safety concerns and left attendees genuinely fearful, Fox San Antonio reported.
The cosplayer admitted to posting the threat before leaving the event, and was later arrested, KENS 5 reported.
Manning was soon released on a $35,000 bond, according to the Bexar County Central Magistrate.
The popular influencer boasts a staggering 115,000 followers on TikTok and a slimmer 16,000 on Instagram.
Her most popular videos on TikTok, featuring herself dressed up as X-Men member Kitty Pride and Marvel antihero Wanda Maximoff, garnered around 32,000 views each.
On Sunday, the day she was booted from the convention, Manning was set to appear dressed as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s notorious on-again, off-again partner.
The day Manning allegedly made the bomb threat, she happened to be dressed as Raven from the Teen Titans, a half-demon hybrid capable of leveling entire dimensions.
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
