Federal prosecutors on Monday arrested a man they said threatened to attack this year’s New York City Pride March with “firefighting” that “made the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting a cakewalk.” Will make it like that.”
FBI and New York Joint Terrorism Task Force officers announced That Robert Fehring, 74, was charged with mailing dozens of letters threatening to attack, shoot, and bomb individuals, organizations and businesses affiliated with LGBTQ, including New York City’s annual Pride Festival.
Last month, after executing a search warrant at his home in Bayport, New York, law enforcement agents recovered photographs from a Pride event on Long Island this year, two loaded shotguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, two stun guns and a sealed envelope. addressed. Federal prosecutors told an LGBTQ-affiliated lawyer with the remains of a dead bird.
New York Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI Michael J. Driscoll, “Fehring’s alleged threats to members of the LGBTQ+ community were not only appalling, but dangerous, despite the fact that he had yet to act on his alleged intentions.” The field office said in a statement.
a criminal complaint The statement released on Monday said Fehring had sent more than 60 threatening letters to members and organizations associated with the LGBTQ community from 2013 and as recently as September.
According to the complaint, in several letters, he described LGBTQ individuals as doing worse “under the pig-pen” or saying that “animals know better” than engaging in same-sex activity, according to the complaint.
Specifically, the complaint stated that Fehring threatened that “radio-content” would[r]The 2021 New York City Pride March saw vintage equipment placed at several strategic locations with “Firepower” that “will make the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting look like a cakewalk,” referring to the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida While doing so, in which 49 people were killed and dozens were injured.
NYC Pride, which runs the Pride March of New York City, “received and reported the threatening letters earlier this year,” the organization’s executive director, Sandra Perez, told NBC News in an email.
“We are cooperating in any way we can, and we are committed to the safety and well-being of the LGBTQIA+ community,” she said.
Prosecutors also detailed an incident in which Fehring allegedly sent a letter threatening the organizer of the Long Island Pride event in East Meadow, New York. The letter called the organizer “eccentric” and said, “You are being watched. No matter how long it takes, you will be kicked out…. High-powered bullet…. Bomb…. Knife…. Whatever it takes…. “
Last month, Fehring waived his Miranda rights and allowed federal prosecutors to interview him, according to the complaint. During the interview, he admitted that he had written some letters under investigation and that he had general animosity towards the LGBTQ community, according to the complaint.
“There’s a sick overdose of that stuff getting in everyone’s faces on paper, on TV and everywhere and I’m not a fan of any homophobic, gay thing,” he said.
Fehring is expected to appear in court on Monday afternoon.