FBI: Activist is threatening Muslim hamlet

Published 4:29 pm Sunday, November 29, 2015

Islamberg, the Muslims of America community in Hancock, New York has been threatened by an anti-Muslim activist from Arizona who may be armed and headed for the enclave.

The FBI — in an unusual step — issued a warning to New York police that Jon Ritzheimer could be headed to Hancock, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

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Police were put on alert after Ritzheimer posted a threatening video online Nov. 18, warning he was headed east to “see those (expletive) who called me a (expletive) terrorist,” according to the Daily News.

The newspaper said Ritzheimer was referring to the organization Muslims of America, which called Ritzheimer an “American Taliban” in a recent issue of its newspaper, The Islamic Post.

The video, which has since been taken down, also reportedly included Ritzheimer showing off a handgun and making profane remarks about President Barack Obama.

An FBI spokesman told the Daily News that the agency notified authorities of Ritzheimer’s video.

“We have not been asked to provide any increased police presence at Islamberg,” Delaware County Undersheriff Craig DuMond said Friday.

The Daily News said a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Albany field office declined to discuss the specifics of the investigation or where Ritzheimer might be.

“The FBI vigorously investigates threats and allegations of hate crimes,” she said. “After recently becoming aware of a video which could have been perceived as threatening against the Muslim community in Hancock, N.Y., the FBI immediately took steps to notify our federal, state and local partners.”

Agents were able to talk with Ritzheimer initially, but two days later, when he was in Scranton, Pa., he got angry and cut off communication with them. At that point, the alert, citing a “potential threat to law enforcement,” was issued, sources told the Daily News. 

Ritzheimer, a former Marine, has made previous threats against Muslims. He has organized an armed protest at a Phoenix mosque, threatened to “arrest” all senators who voted for Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran, and encouraged all Americans to carry rifles in public for protection against terrorists, The Daily News said.

A former fringe congressional candidate in Tennessee, Robert Doggart, was charged earlier this year with plotting to enlist militia members to attack the Muslims of America hamlet, which has 70 acres in Hancock.

Doggart allegedly told FBI informants that he planned to attack Islamberg with an M4 “with 500 rounds of ammunition, light armor piercing. A pistol with three extra magazines, and a machete. And if it gets down to the machete, we will cut them to shreds.”

The Daily Star in Oneonta, New York provided details for this story.