Brian Charles, 58, of North Carolina, was indicted for allegedly mailing antisemitic threats of violence to Jewish organizations and people under U.S. Secret Service protection in South Florida, the U.S. Department of Justice stated on Monday.
In July, Charles allegedly sent identical threatening letters to officers and executives of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach, the American Jewish Committee’s Palm Beach office and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, as well as two Secret Service protectees.
The letters included graphic imagery and threats against Jews, including statements such as “I am going to destroy many Jews” and “many shall die by my wrath,” according to the complaint.
JNS reported exclusively in July that leaders at the AJC and AIPAC had received graphic, handwritten letters containing threats, including at their homes. An AJC spokesman told JNS at the time that the organization was cooperating with law enforcement.
Investigators identified Charles through a fingerprint recovered from a letter sent to AJC Palm Beach, according to the complaint. Several envelopes also bore his name and a Charlotte return address.
Charles was arrested in North Carolina and later appeared before a federal magistrate judge in South Florida, who ordered him detained.
In 2018, Charles pleaded guilty to five counts of mailing threatening communications in a separate federal case in New Mexico. He was sentenced to 542 days in prison and three years of supervised release, which he violated multiple times, according to the complaint.
Charles is charged with mailing threatening communications, a federal offense carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
