A grand jury has indicted a 19-year-old Michigan man charged with making social media threats and having loose plans to attack a synagogue near Lansing, the state capital.
Seann Pietila, from Pickford in the state’s Upper Peninsula, has been in custody since June 16. An indictment against him for making threats, including threats to kill by fire, was filed in federal court in Grand Rapids on Tuesday.
“No one should be threatened with violence because of their race, ethnicity, religion or any other status,” said US attorney Mark Totten.
MICHIGAN 19-YEAR-OLD PLANNED SYNAGOGUE MASS SHOOTING, FBI CLAIMS
A message was left requesting comment for Pietila’s lawyer.
A 19-year-old from Michigan has been charged with making social media threats to a synagogue in Lansing, Michigan. (Fox news)
When Pietila was arrested, investigators said, he had the name of the Shaarey Zedek community in East Lansing on his phone, along with a date of 2024. He wrote to another Instagram user that he would “inspire others to take up arms against the Jewish-controlled state”.
MASS SHOOTING IN MARYLAND HOME LEAVES 3 DEAD, SEVERAL INJURED: POLICE
During a search of his home, officers said, they found a stash of weapons, knives, tactical equipment and a red and white Nazi flag.
Officers said he made clear references to the New Zealand gunman serving life in prison for killing 51 people and wounding 40 others in the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.
Global Courant
Pietila was arrested on the same day a truck driver was convicted of storming Tree of Life, a synagogue in Pittsburgh, in 2018 and killing 11 congregants in an act of anti-Semitic terror.
19-year-old Michigan man accused of threatening synagogue on social media
World News,Next Big Thing in Public Knowledg
#19yearold #Michigan #man #accused #threatening #synagogue #social #media
