As per a federal affidavit submitted in court this past week, a freelance reporter located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, faces up to 5 years in federal prison after reportedly threatening to “hit” each pro-Israel U.S. government official” and “kill each Jew” in the city.
The accusation against 41-year-old Jeffrey Stevens involves sending threats via interstate communications, which includes a possible 5-year federal prison sentence. As per the affidavit, he was originally reported to the FBI on October 7, having “numerous disturbing Facebook posts” in response to the Hamas attack on Israel.
As per the affidavit, Stevens acknowledged on February 2 in an FBI interview that he had posted on the CIA’s website that he intended to shoot American government leaders who supported Israel. Additionally, he said that he had sent a message on Facebook to the Fort Wayne Police Department threatening to “kill every Jew.”
According to the affidavit, he admitted during the interrogation that he was intoxicated when he uploaded the communications.
Additionally, it is said that Stevens wrote on social media that he was going to “ensure that each CIA member who is pro-Israel is removed.”
The affidavit was initially published by The Detroit News on Monday.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana received the affidavit on February 12.
Stevens was taken into jail this past week and will stay there, per a federal judge’s order dated February 16.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Stevens’ lawyer.
According to a survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee and published on Tuesday, 25% of American Jews reported experiencing antisemitism in the previous year.
According to a nationwide survey, almost two-thirds of American Jews say they feel less safe in the country now compared to what they would a year ago.