FL Boy, 14, With Ties To Neo-Nazi Satanic Group Charged With Terrorism, Sheriff Says

WIMAUMA, FL — A 14-year-old boy arrested Jan. 31 faces terrorism charges for planning a mass shooting at a church near his Wimauma home, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The teen was also arrested on charges related to a separate child pornography investigation.

While HCSO has named the teen, it’s Patch policy not to publish the name of minors who are charged with crimes as a juvenile. During a Wednesday news conference, Sheriff Chad Chronister said the boy was being charged as a juvenile.

HCSO received a tip on Jan. 31 from a joint terrorism task force that the teen had access to weapons and was planning the church shooting.

Days earlier, on Jan. 27, the Internet Predator Unit began investigating separate child exploitation allegations connected to an IP address at the boy’s home, Chronister said.

HCSO served a search warrant at the home, where they found multiple firearms, ammunition, and electronic devices containing child sexual abuse material. Investigators learned that the teen had discussed “shooting up a church” near his home in an online chat room for violent extremists, the sheriff said.

The boy is also “linked to a neo-Nazi Satanic group called Temple of Love, where they advocate and encourage violence to achieve spiritual enlightenment,” according to Chronister.

The teen told deputies that he was just trying “to be edgy” with his online comments.

While an assault rifle and two firearms were locked inside his father’s safe, the teen would have been able to easily access a firearm that was stored in his father’s nightstand, the sheriff said.

During the execution of the search warrant, deputies also found “14 extremely graphic, disturbing images, where individuals were inflicting violence towards infants and toddlers — images too graphic and too disturbing to discuss because they would keep all of you up at night,” Chronister said.

The teen was charged with written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, in-state transmission of child pornography by electronic device, and 14 counts of solicitation or possession of child pornography 10 or more images and content of images.

As the forensic investigation of the teen’s devices continues, Chronister believes more charges will be added.

While the boy didn’t specify which church was to be the target of his shooting, there are two near his home, the sheriff said. Deputies will patrol the area of both churches.

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