JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (VINnews) — A Clay County man has been indicted on a federal charge after prosecutors say he posted Instagram videos displaying firearms and saying he would “hunt Jews,” according to court records and local reports.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
A federal grand jury in Jacksonville indicted Duncan Fraser MacDonald on Thursday on one count of transmitting a threat to injure, News4JAX reported. He had already been charged by criminal complaint with interstate transmission of a threat to injure, a violation of federal law that covers threats sent across state lines.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the Jacksonville Joint Terrorism Task Force was contacted Sept. 17 by the community security director for the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida. The tip concerned videos posted to an Instagram story feed on Sept. 16 and 17.
Investigators said the clips, totaling a little more than a minute, showed firearms, ammunition, tactical gear and related equipment inside a residence. In one recording, an unseen speaker panned across racks of guns and said, “You know, you need those, because we’re over here gonna hunt Jews. We’re gonna, you know, take them out because the Austrian painter was correct,” the affidavit states. Prosecutors treat the “Austrian painter” remark as a reference to Adolf Hitler.
Other clips cited in the complaint showed or discussed a flamethrower, a .50-caliber rifle and loaded magazines, according to news reports of the filing. An FBI agent wrote that MacDonald appeared in a fourth video and was identified by comparison with Florida driver’s license photos. Phone records listed him as a Clay County resident; state motor-vehicle records also tied him to a Sarasota address, earlier coverage of the complaint said.
The affidavit also describes a text message attributed to MacDonald that read, “Shabby service tomorrow is gonna be epic.” The agent wrote that, based on training and experience, he believed “Shabby service” referred to Shabbat services, which begin Friday evening. When the person who reported the videos later said the FBI and news outlets had been contacted, MacDonald allegedly replied “LMAO,” the complaint says.
MacDonald was arrested in Arizona in mid-September and faced extradition to Florida, according to earlier reports of the case. The Jewish Federation and the Secure Community Network said they worked with law enforcement, praised the speed of the arrest and said they had shared information to keep the community informed.
The charge is an allegation. MacDonald has not been convicted, and attorney information was not immediately available in the initial filings.