Federal agents arrested Lucas Brandon Rousso, 30, of Easley, S.C., and charged him with making online threats against Jews, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said on Wednesday.
Rousso, who faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, appeared before a judge on Dec. 17 and has a detention hearing scheduled for Friday, the Justice Department said.
Agents were told about an account on YouTube that was posting “threatening comments alluding to violence and harm, including the Jewish community,” which “escalated over the last few months,” the Justice Department said.
“Most recently, the defendant posted, ‘I’m going to commit a mass shooting,’” it alleges.
Investigators traced the account to Rousso’s IP address, email address and device, and when police interviewed him, he “stated he posted the comments to YouTube,” the Justice Department said.
A LinkedIn profile under the name Lucas Brandon Rousso, based in Easley, S.C., which has only two connections, states that the user is open to finding work and that he was or is an assembler at Collins Aerospace, a defense technology company. JNS sought comment from RTX, the parent company of Collins Aerospace.
Another profile for someone by the same name, based in Easley, states that he is looking for work and holds a bachelor’s in media and communications from State University of New York at Old Westbury.
