Source: Associated Press
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
A North Carolina man has been charged with posting an anonymous threat on social media to lynch a Muslim-American candidate for a state Senate seat in Virginia.
A warrant for the arrest of Joseph Cecil Vandevere, 52, of Black Mountain, was issued after his June 20 indictment, federal court records show. Federal authorities hadn’t yet arrested Vandevere as of Monday afternoon, according to Lia Bantavani, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the western district of North Carolina.
The indictment identifies the victim only by the initials “Q.R.,” but Virginia state Senate candidate Qasim Rashid posted a screenshot of the threatening tweet in March 2018 and flagged it for Twitter. Rashid also said he reported the threat to the FBI.
Categories: America, hate speech, Muslims, The Muslim Times, USA