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Weapons, ammunition found in home of man who made threats against Jews

The FBI informed law enforcement in Beverly, Mass., of the man’s alleged antisemitic online threats, which prompted the search of his home.

Police Car
Police car. Credit: tevenet/Pixabay.

Law enforcement in Beverly, Mass., discovered an extensive collection of weapons and ammunition at the home of a man who allegedly posted several threats against Jews on an internet image board.

Matthew Scouras, 34, was arrested on Monday after the FBI National Threat Operations Center informed the Beverly Police Department of online posts Scouras allegedly made, threatening to rape Jewish women and urging people to shoot people outside of synagogues.

The FBI tip prompted a search of his residence, which revealed numerous items, including a Nazi flag, a 9mm Glock “ghost gun” with no serial number, six boxes of ammunition, three large-capacity rifle magazines, pistol frames, rifle stocks, brass knuckles and more than $70,000 in cash.

Scouras was arraigned on Monday and is being held without bail pending a detention hearing on Jan. 13.

He is facing several charges, including 12 counts of possession of a fireman without a license; illegal possession of ammunition; possession of a large-capacity feeding device; threats to destroy a place of worship; and willful communication of a threat with a dangerous item.

“In this political environment, he may be as reliable a supporter as possible that the Democratic caucus would sign off on for the position,” political science scholar Dan Schnur told JNS.
“Anyone who attempts to pose a threat or attack Israel will face devastating consequences,” said Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the global body.
“I think they’re much more susceptible to being targeted if a public official wants to target them, if a community wants to target them,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer told JNS.
Israel is building a barrier as part of efforts to bolster border defenses.