Michael J. Keitz, 56, of Canandaigua, N.Y., was charged with making an interstate threat for allegedly emailing a museum threatening to kill Jews, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Justice Department alleges that Keitz wrote to the Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum stating “death to the Jews” and threatening to “bring a swift justice worse than Oct. 7.”
He is accused of doing so after first indicating that he might donate $20,000 to the museum. His threats forced the museum to cancel an event, which ended up costing it about $10,000, the Justice Department said.
The museum, which includes an 1816 house and a large collection of horse-drawn vehicles, said on Nov. 8 that a dinner dance scheduled for that day was canceled “due to a credible terrorist threat.”
The arrest “should serve as a warning for those who use the internet to threaten violence and terrorize people,” stated Philip Tejera, special agent-in-charge of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office.
Keitz faces up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
