A man who tweeted about killing Michigan”s Jewish attorney general and other Jews in the state government has been arrested by the FBI.
Jack Carpenter III, of Tipton, Michigan, was taken into custody by the FBI after tweeting on February 17, “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,” Fox2 reported.
Carpenter made the alleged threats under the name “TemperedReason” on the platform.
He faces interstate charges related to transmitting the threats due to residing in Texas at the time he sent the tweets.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel confirmed the arrest in a Thursday morning statement.
“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.
Carpenter was arrested after the Detroit FBI office received evidence about threats to murder Jewish state government officials, including screenshots of a conversation linked to Carpenter”s Twitter account used to launch the investigation.
Carpenter was identified by federal investigators as the individual behind the account.
His February 17 tweet threatening to kill Jewish government officials also referred to “that kind of problem,” according to CNN, and stated, “Because I can legally do that, right?”
Upon learning of the threats, the FBI contacted Michigan State Police who told them that Carpenter was already under investigation for theft relating to a Smith & Wesson gun, Fox2 reported.
Police were told by the suspect”s mother that he was planning to return from Texas to Michigan for a short stay. Shortly after, he tweeted: “I’ll be coming back to Michigan, still driving with expired plates. You may want to let everyone know, and Wayne County sheriff as well, any attempt to subdue me will be met with deadly force in self-defense.”
According to the report, Carpenter”s mother told authorities her son had two hunting rifles, three handguns and a 12-gauge shotgun.
