ORLANDO, Fla. — A 36-year-old Orlando felon was charged by federal prosecutors Wednesday after he allegedly waived a fake law enforcement badge at George Floyd demonstrators blocking his way in downtown Orlando on Sunday.

• John Wesley Mobley Jr. faces 3 years in prison if convicted
• Prosecutors: He flashed a fake badge at Orlando protesters Sunday
• Mobley has been convicted twice of impersonating a law officer

John Wesley Mobley Jr. remained behind bars at the Orange County Jail on Wednesday evening, accused of violating his probation in an officer-impersonation case in Alachua County. 

He was charged federally Wednesday, the fifth consecutive day of protests in downtown Orlando sparked by Floyd's killing in Minneapolis.

Derek Chauvin, who is white, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the slaying of Floyd, a black man who gasped for breath as Chauvin — then a police officer — fatally pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

Floyd's death sparked protests across the globe. Protests surfaced in Orange County after people found out Chauvin owns a house — now unoccupied — near Windermere.

Mobley, the fake-cop suspect, encountered demonstrators Sunday in downtown Orlando.

Mobley, who served three stints in state prison, was driving north on South Westmoreland Drive at roughly 7:25 p.m. Sunday when he was forced to stop just north of Long Street because demonstrators blocked the roadway, according to a report from an undercover officer.

The officer’s report said an agitated Mobley got out of his vehicle and waved a fake badge, telling protesters, “Do you want to get arrested? Do you want to go to jail?”

One of the demonstrators yelled, “He’s a Marshal!” They made way for him and he continued to drive north on South Westmoreland Drive.

An Orlando police officer later spotted Mobley walking north on Garland Avenue with protesters. That officer noticed something bulky under his clothing on his right hip shaped like a firearm.

OPD feared he might harm protesters and the agency got information he was in a crowd of protesters with a firearm in his waistband causing a disturbance. 

Two OPD officers approached Mobley in the crowd and one took him by the arm and guided him away from protestors.

Another officer approached him and led him out of the crowd. That’s when Mobley blurted out: “It’s just a BB gun.”

Officers said the BB gun looked like a Glock pistol. Mobley also had a silver set of metal handcuffs and a silver badge with the words “United States Marshal” on the front. 

He has two prior convictions for impersonating a law officer.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida filed a criminal complaint against Mobley on Wednesday, charging him with false impersonation of a federal officer. He could be sentenced to as much as three years in federal prison if convicted, according to federal prosecutors.

He pleaded no-contest and was found guilty in 2017 of impersonating an officer in Alachua County and sentenced to one year and two months in prison and three years of probation. Mobley was released from state prison in December 2017 after less than two months behind bars in that case.

He plead no-contest and was found guilty of three charges of impersonating an officer and three charges of unlawful use of a police badge in May 2009 in Orange County. His punishment in that case could not be immediately determined Wednesday.

Records show he was in prison twice before the Alachua County case, all for crimes in Orange County. He first entered prison in May 2005 and left a year later. That was for grand theft, trafficking in stolen property and burglary. He was back in February 2013 and left in June 2015. That was for burglary and grand theft in 2009 and fleeing from police and theft in 2012.

The U.S. Marshals Service and OPD investigated the most recent case against Mobley.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Sean P. Shecter will prosecute.