46 year-old Jaleel Tariq Abdul-Jabbaar starting posting threats to Facebook shortly after the August shooting of Michael Brown. Investigators said the threats escalated and continued through late November.
The suspect faces three counts of making interstate threats. Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Abdul-Jabbaar also threatened other officers and even attempted to use Facebook to buy a gun, police say.
In a Nov. 11 message, Abdul-Jabbaar allegedly asked if there were any “REAL BLACK MEN” willing to go to Ferguson and “give back those bullets that … [D.W.] fired into the body of Michael Brown. If we’re unable to locate Officer [D.W.] then we’ll return them to his wife and if not her then to his children.”
“We need to kill (the officer) and anything that has a badge on.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said freedom of speech does not extend to threats to kill or injure law enforcement officers.
“Although we each have the right to express our views about the decision reached by the state grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, we cannot tolerate violence or threats of violence that are intended to intimidate, and ultimately silence debate,” said Hayes in a written statement. “Such threats are crimes, and the individuals who make them must be held to account.”
If convicted on all three counts of making interstate threats, Abdul-Jabbaar could face up to five years in prison.