A member of a Neo-Nazi group was sentenced to 16 months in prison for plotting to threaten and intimidate minority journalists and advocates who worked to expose anti-Semitism, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Johnny Roman Garza threatened a Jewish journalist and conspired to intimidate other minority journalists and advocates across the nation, according to the DOJ. The 21-year-old plotted with other defendants, who were also members of Atomwaffen Division, a Neo-Nazi group, through an encrypted group chat, the DOJ said.
Garza said he wanted them to “all wake up one morning and find themselves terrorized by targeted propaganda,” according to the DOJ.
Johnny Roman Garza, 21, a member of the neo #Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release for his role in a plot to threaten journalists & advocates who worked to expose antisemitism!
More: https://t.co/cbVzhyzt3s pic.twitter.com/SzuWGssDiM
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) December 9, 2020
“While this defendant did not hatch this disturbing plot, he enthusiastically embraced it, researching addresses for journalists and those who oppose hate in our communities,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Brian T. Moran said in a statement.
“Ultimately in the dark of night he delivered a hateful, threatening poster — spreading fear and anxiety. Such conduct has no place in our community,” Moran continued.
Garza put a poster of a person in a skull masked and holding a Molotov cocktail in front of a burning home on the bedroom window of a Jewish journalist, according to the DOJ. The journalist’s name and address were included on the poster.
“Your actions have consequences. Our patience has its limits . . . You have been visited by your local Nazis,” the poster said, according to the DOJ.
Garza’s sentence included three years of supervised release, according to the DOJ. (RELATED: ‘We Are Everywhere’: Large Swastika Sticker Found On Anne Frank Memorial)
“The United States and other nations fought a global war to rid the world of murderous threats and violence by Nazis. The nation and its allies defeated Nazi Germany, but Nazi-inspired threats and violence continue to plague this nation and others 75 years after the end of World War II,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
Garza previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with Atomwaffen to commit three offenses against the U.S. including interference with federally-protected activities, mailing threatening communications and cyberstalking, according to the DOJ.
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