A Michigan teenager, 19, with an appetite for posting neo-Nazi and antisemitic messages online to other social media users, was arrested Friday by the FBI. Investigators say he stockpiled weapons and was planning a mass shooting. Sean Pietila of Pickford, Michigan, was charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another. And, of course, he had a Nazi flag, among other items.
ABC News reports:
Investigators allege the teen had communicated with another user on Instagram where they expressed strong views against the Jewish population, support for neo-Nazis, and idolization of previous mass shooters, according to the criminal complaint.
When the FBI searched the suspect's home earlier Friday, they found a cache of weapons, a Nazi flag, a ghillie suit, gas masks, and military sniper/survival manuals, the criminal complaint said.
A search of the suspect's phone found a message in the Notes app where he had identified a synagogue in East Lansing, a date and a list of equipment, according to the complaint.
The FBI thwarted his plan after receiving a report about threatening online communications.
The suspect allegedly talked about his admiration for the 2019 Christchurch mass shooting in New Zealand, according to the criminal complaint. The date allegedly found on the notes app was the fifth anniversary of the New Zealand shooting.
Pietila posted images of Nazi imagery and other mass shooters on social media. And since this is a free country, people are allowed to have fucked up thinking, but killing people because of their race, religion, or sexuality will land you in big boy prison. It doesn't help that Republicans are OK with our gun-saturated country.
