The leader of neo-Nazi efforts to threaten journalists and the Anti-Defamation League for exposing anti-Semitism was sentenced to three years in prison by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, announced the Department of Justice.
Cameron Shea, 25, received his sentence on Tuesday after pleading guilty in April 2020 to one count of conspiring to commit three offenses against the United States: interference with federally protected activities due to religion, mailing threatening communications and cyberstalking. He also pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a federally protected activity because of religion.
Shea and three other members of the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwafhfen Division, which formed in 2016 and has been linked to several killings, mailed hate-filled posters to journalists and activists who worked to expose anti-Semitism.
“The group focused primarily on those who are Jewish or journalists of color,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. “The group created posters, which featured Nazi symbols, masked figures with guns and Molotov cocktails and threatening messages, to deliver or mail to the journalists or advocates the group targeted.”
The posters said, “You have been visited by your local Nazis,” “Your Actions have Consequences” and “We are Watching,” according to The Associated Press. They were delivered to victims in Seattle, Phoenix and Tampa, Fla., including to an official at the ADL.
Two of Shea’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and were sentenced. A fourth defendant pleaded not guilty and has a trial scheduled for September.
