In August, the FBI announced that it was launching a nationwide public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging people to report hate crimes.
By The Algemeiner, World Israel News Staff
A man from the town of Buxton, Maine is now facing federal charges after he threatened to commit an anti-Semitic mass shooting, the Bangor Daily News reported on Monday.
Brian Dennison, 24, was arrested last Saturday after he tweeted that he intended “to kill Jews with my AR-15” during the High Holidays, along with the claim that he was building a pipe bomb.
The FBI was informed of the threat, which was tweeted on Sept. 8, the second day of Rosh Hashanah, and immediately dispatched agents to Dennison’s residence.
Dennison, who lives with his parents and several other family members, refused to speak to the agents, but, according to an affidavit, his parents told the agents that “Brian had been obsessed with Jews for about three years, and that he believed Jews were responsible for all of his problems.”
“They said they had many concerning conversations with Brian regarding Jews,” the agents stated.
Dennison’s parents also revealed that their son owned several weapons, including the AR-15 assault rifle mentioned in the Twitter threat.
FBI agents obtained a search warrant based on this evidence that allowed them to search Dennison’s cell phone, after which he was arrested on Sept. 11.
Dennison is facing federal charges of transmitting threatening interstate communication, and if convicted could serve five years in prison and be fined up to $250,000.
In August, the FBI announced that it was launching a nationwide public awareness campaign aimed at encouraging people to report hate crimes.
“We realize that members of the general public may not even be aware that the FBI investigates these matters,” said FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge George Crouch, Jr.
“We experience and are constantly experiencing low-grade hate crimes, the kinds that go underreported by the press and the kinds that go underreported by the victims,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union (OU).
The latest FBI report on hate crimes shows that the number of incidents continues to rise year to year in the U.S., with 7,759 hate crimes reported in 2020 as compared to 7,517 in 2019, but with fewer crimes categorized as “religiously motivated.”