A federal grand jury indicted Edward Arthur Owens Jr., 29, of Elizabeth, Pa., in the Pittsburgh area, for making an antisemitic threat to harm a public official and making false statements to federal agents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania said on Thursday.
Owens, who was arrested on May 30, allegedly told a “local public official,” whom the U.S. Justice Department didn’t name, that “we’re coming for you” and “be afraid,” adding a German flag image.
“Go back to Israel or better yet, exterminate yourself and save us the trouble,” he allegedly wrote to the official, using an antisemitic phrase that suggests Jews have been expelled from 109 countries.
The Justice Department also alleges that Owens lied and told FBI agents that “his firearms—which included a .22 LR caliber rifle, an AR-15 style rifle and a 9mm caliber Smith & Wesson pistol—were all in the custody of his mother, that he did not know where the firearms were and that he did not have access to any of them.”
Per the indictment, “Edwards did, in fact, know that his 9mm caliber Smith & Wesson pistol was still in his custody and control—located inside of the vehicle Edwards drove immediately prior to making his false statements to the FBI agents—that he still had access to this pistol, and that the pistol was not in his mother’s custody,” per the department.
Owens faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
