() — A 19-year-old from Pickford, Michigan was arrested by the FBI on Friday for alleged antisemitic threats On Instagram.
Seann Pietila was charged in a criminal complaint with “transmitting a communication containing a threat to harm another,” US Attorney Mark Totten announced in a news release Friday.
“Anti-Semitic threats and violence against our Jewish communities — or any other group — will not be tolerated in the Western District of Michigan,” Totten said.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Pietila had conversations with another Instagram user about carrying out a mass casualty or murder. Pietila told investigators that he did not plan to carry out the mass murders he discussed, the affidavit says.
Investigators found the name of an East Lansing synagogue, a date and a list of weapons — including bombs, Molotov cocktails and pistols — in the notes app on Pietila’s phone, according to the affidavit.
His home was searched Friday and items found included ammunition, magazines, a shotgun, a rifle, several knives and a Nazi flag, Totten said.
Beth Lacosse, Pietila’s public defender, declined to comment, saying she had just been appointed to the case.
Pietila made his first court appearance Friday and his detention hearing is set for June 22, according to court documents.
‘s Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
