Some threats federal prosecutors take seriously — others, not so much. When the Center for Individual Rights filed a lawsuit against a University of Michigan affirmative action policy later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, its staff received over 500 threatening emails from angry progressives. None of the senders were ever prosecuted. The DC-based nonprofit continued its litigation against the university’s illegal use of race in admissions despite the threats. Nothing was ever done by law enforcement about stalking directed against Michael Greve, the executive director of the Center for Individual Rights, even though the stalker was identified.
But hateful white supremacists do get prosecuted by the Justice Department.
In an April 19 press release, the Justice Department announced:
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Nicholas Welker, also known as “King ov Wrath,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to 44 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to make death threats. Welker, the leader of Feuerkrieg Division (“FKD”), an international racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist (“RMVE”) group, which translates to “War Fire,” posted death threats against a Brooklyn-based journalist (the “Journalist”) so that the Journalist would stop reporting on the Neo-Nazi group….
According to court filings, Welker’s threat included a photograph of the Journalist with a gun aimed at his head and the words “Race Traitor” over the Journalist’s eyes. The threat stated, “JOURNALIST F[***] OFF! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.” The threat listed the Journalist and his employer by name. Welker posted the threat to a public online forum. Two under-aged FKD members tweeted the death threat directly at the Journalist’s social media handle so that he would see it. Welker intended to frighten the Journalist into dropping his reporting on Welker’s hate group.
FKD members share a common goal of challenging laws, social order, and the government via terrorism and other violent acts. The organization encourages attacks on racial minorities, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ+ community, the U.S. Government, journalists, and critical infrastructure. FKD has members in the United States and abroad.
