Robert Pabich, of Rocky Hill, Conn., was charged with threatening a Jewish state senator, “who was concerned enough to move his family from their home,” Fox 61 in Connecticut reported.
According to police, Pabich posted antisemitic comments, including references to the 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, on the Facebook page of Matt Lesser, a state senator, the station reported.
Per the arrest warrant, Pabich wrote in response to a Facebook post of Lesser’s showing the state senator and nine other state legislators that “everyone of these pieces of trash need bullets shot directly into their face.” (The post also used foul language that was homophobic and anti-immigrant.)
Pabich also posted the state senator’s home address and wrote, on one occasion, “perfect example of why the Tree of Life Synagogue deserved to be fumigated,” referring to purging “more of these Jewish communists out of our community,” per the warrant.
When police executed the warrant, they found and seized four rifles and “high caliber” and “military grade” ammunition.
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) denounced the threats. “No one should ever be targeted for their faith, their race or their political beliefs,” he stated. “In the United States of America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box.”
“With hate on the rise, there must be severe consequences for perpetrators of such violence, and it must be made clear to all that bigotry will not be tolerated in any form,” he added.
