NY man arrested for allegedly threatening to attack LGBTQ+ groups, Pride
: A participant seen holding a sign at the Queer Liberation March in New York City. Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images
A New York man was arrested and charged with mailing threatening letters to LGBTQ+ affiliated organizations and individuals, including threatening to attack New York City's Pride March, prosecutors said on Monday.
Driving the news: In one letter, Robert Fehring, 74, allegedly threatened that there would “be radio-cont[r]olled devices placed at numerous strategic places” at the 2021 New York City Pride March with “firepower” that would “make the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting look like a cakewalk,” the complaint said.
- Fehring also allegedly threatened the organizer of a Pride event in June in East Meadow, New York, prosecutors said.
- Fehring has been sending threats to LGBTQ+ individuals and affiliated businesses since 2013, authorities alleged in the complaint.
- Law enforcement searched Fehring's residence in November and found two loaded shotguns, ammunition, stun guns, a machete and photographs from the East Meadow, per the complaint.
- An attorney for Fehring could not immediately be reached.
What they're saying: “As alleged, the defendant's hate-filled invective and threats of violence directed at members of the LGBTQ+ community have no place in our society and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Breon Peace. U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
- “This Office is firmly committed to protecting the civil rights of all members of every community in this district, including the LGBTQ+ community and other minority communities," Peace added.
The big picture: Fehring faces up to five years in prison if convicted, BuzzFeed News reports.