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Reason
Reason
Politics
Eugene Volokh

"White Supremacist Leader Sentenced to 44 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Make Death Threats Against Brooklyn Journalist"

The Justice Department reported yesterday:

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Nicholas Welker, also known as "King ov Wrath," was sentenced by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to 44 months' imprisonment for conspiring to make death threats. Welker, the leader of Feuerkrieg Division ("FKD"), an international racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ("RMVE") group, which translates to "War Fire," posted death threats against a Brooklyn-based journalist (the "Journalist") so that the Journalist would stop reporting on the Neo-Nazi group….

According to court filings, Welker's threat included a photograph of the Journalist with a gun aimed at his head and the words "Race Traitor" over the Journalist's eyes. The threat stated, "JOURNALIST F[***] OFF! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." The threat listed the Journalist and his employer by name. Welker posted the threat to a public online forum. Two under-aged FKD members tweeted the death threat directly at the Journalist's social media handle so that he would see it. Welker intended to frighten the Journalist into dropping his reporting on Welker's hate group.

FKD members share a common goal of challenging laws, social order, and the government via terrorism and other violent acts. The organization encourages attacks on racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ+ community, the U.S. Government, journalists, and critical infrastructure. FKD has members in the United States and abroad.

UPDATE: Here's the threat, from the government's Sentencing Memorandum (thanks to commenter John F. Carr for the link); the redactions are the government's:

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