An Amarillo man was sentenced in January for threatening to execute three prominent Jewish rabbis.
Christopher Stephen Brown placed threatening calls to Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish organization in New York that has provided spiritual guidance and assistance to Jewish people since before the Holocaust, said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
In the calls, Brown pretended to be someone named “Madrikh Obadiah” and threatened to “execute” several of the rabbis, vowing to “tear their eyes and tongues out, blow their heads of, and kill every rabbi he could find,” officials said.
He also threatened the organization through its website and spread anti-Semitic content on YouTube.
“Mr. Brown expressed vile anti-Semitism and threatened to commit despicable, violent acts against specific Jewish authorities,” Simonton said. “We will never stop protecting the Jewish community and other religious groups from such disturbing, hateful conduct.”
Brown was charged and indicted in December 2022. In January, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
“Making threatening statements intended to instill fear and cause potential physical harm is a serious criminal action with consequences,” said FBI Dallas Acting Special Agent in Charge James J. Dwyer. “Our hope is that today’s sentence brings some relief to the affected private citizens, law enforcement and members of the Jewish community at large.”
