Who is Joni Florea? Arrested Proud Boy supporter Eduard Florea's wife wants divorce, seeks $2M to sue Trump, Parler
Joni Florea, the wife of Eduard Florea, a Queens, New York man who was arrested in a dramatic standoff, after he posted about sending an armed caravan to the Capitol and threatened the life of senator-elect Raphael Warnock, is preparing to divorce her husband of six years following his arrest. FBI agents seized over 1,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, two dozen shotgun rounds and approximately 75 military-style combat knives, two hatches and two swords from the home.
According to the New York Post, Florea had commented on a post on Parler about Warock, writing, "Dead men can’t pass s**t laws," according to a criminal complaint. He had posted more comments under the screenname LoneWolfWar, allegedly writing, "Let’s go…I will be reaching out to patriots in my area so we can come up with a game plan . . . Here in New York we are target rich…Dead men can’t pass shit laws…I will fight so help me god." He also wrote, "The time for peace and civility is over…3 cars full of armed patriots are enroute from NY/ 3 cars of armed patriots heading into DC from NY/ guns cleaned loaded…got a bunch of guys all armed and ready to deploy…we are just waiting for the word.”
Florea was a Proud Boy supporter and had applied to join the right-wing group but hadn’t attended enough meetings yet to qualify as a member. Florea did not actually attend the DC rally on January 6 that led to a failed insurrection attempt at the Capitol building. Joni told the New York Post that he “really wanted to go” to the riot that day and even dressed up in an Army hat for the occassion.
However, she told the publication a fight ensued, saying, "“I told him, ‘if you f–ing go don’t you dare to come back to my house.'" She continued, "We were fighting like crazy and I think the only thing that stopped him was that that ride never came.” According to Joni, Florea then sat in silence on his phone and recalled that she was in tears over the argument. She refused to comment on whether she knew about her husband’s alleged armory, saying that she is waiting to speak to authorities.
She had told the publication, "Just hearing some of the details… is the reason why I’m divorcing him." Following Florea's arrest, Joni set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe asking to raise $2 million to go towards her divorce proceedings as well as to sue President Donald Trump and Parler, who will be succeeded by former Vice President Joe Biden on January 20.
The fundraiser states, "I will use the money to start a movement and sue Donald Trump for radicalizing some of his supporters. For ALL Americans left and right because families have been affected on both sides." It also states, "To create a movement to sue parler for creating a platform to organize the worst crimes made by the worst domestic terrorists in America's history the 'proud boys.'"
She also references her husband, stating, "I will use the money to give my children a better life while making this my life's mission, so that I don't fall to the poverty of a Radical Trump supporter like Eduard who made sure to always have financial control over me like Donald Trump. And to keep my babies safe during a very sensitive time."
Joni told the publication that Florea had been "brainwashed by the right-wing media" and that "He was like angry and upset." She said that Florea had become a “radical idiot” with respect to his politics and has been fighting with her mom, a liberal who “hates Trump.”
She said of her husband, "“He doesn’t think of the consequences of his actions. And I think that’s the most disgusting thing about this … this is something that is going to destroy him.”