The FBI arrested a Michigan man and charged him with allegedly threatening to kill state employees who are Jewish, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court Wednesday.
Jack Eugene Carpenter III, 43, from Tipton, Michigan, was arrested and charged with making threats through social media, according to WXYZ.
He was charged with one count of transmitting an interstate threat, and could face up to five years in federal prison.
The court filing said the threats were made under a Twitter account named "TemperedReason" in mid-February.
"I'm heading back to Michigan now threatening to carry out the punishment of death to anyone that is jewish in the Michigan govt if they don't leave, or confess, and now that kind of problem. Because I can Legally do that, right?" TemperedReason wrote, according to the court filing.
Carpenter also allegedly tweeted, "Any Jewish person holding a public office on my land after that time is subject to immediate punishment for their participation in an unlawful war of aggression using a biological weapon against me. You may leave, confess and resign to live a private life," WXYZ reported.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she was one of the people who was a target.
"The FBI has confirmed I was a target of the heavily armed defendant in this matter. It is my sincere hope that the federal authorities take this offense just as seriously as my Hate Crimes & Domestic Terrorism Unit takes plots to murder elected officials," she tweeted Thursday morning with a link to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) story about the threats.
Nessel is one of several prominent Jewish elected state officials, including U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and a handful of state senators and representatives.
WXYZ reported that, according to the FBI, Carpenter's mother called Michigan State Police after her son requested money to return from Texas. She said that she knew he had three handguns, a shotgun, and two hunting rifles.
Carpenter, according to his Twitter account, is a former employee of the University of Michigan (UM), JTA reported.
He tweeted that he was fired from the school “for refusing to take experimental medication,” apparently referring to the COVID-19 vaccine.
UM has more than 6,500 Jewish students, according to Hillel International.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.