IL Man Threatens To 'Shoot Up' Jewish Synagogue: Prosecutors

CHICAGO — A 31-year-old Chicago man, who is accused of making a threat on social media to shoot up a Jewish synagogue, has been charged in that incident, as well as several other antisemitic communications.

On March 3, the U.S. Attorney's Office says Timothy Holmes publicly posted on X, "I'm going to shoot up a synagogue," in reply to a post from the Israeli government's official X account concerning the death of Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei in Iran.

The FBI's National Threat Operation Section received information regarding the threat made by Holmes using his own X account, which has since been suspended. The subsequent investigation revealed additional threatening communications from Holmes's account in March, including a series of derisive posts concerning Jewish people, the complaint states. Holmes also posted the purported address in the United States of relatives of an Israeli government official, the complaint states.

According to prosecutors, Holmes was arrested last week in Florida in connection to the investigation. He was charged with making a threat in interstate commerce to injure a person. The charge in the complaint is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

In the March 13 complaint, prosecutors said Holmes was ordered released on a $100,000 bond despite the government's objection to the decision. The release, though, is subject to various conditions for Holmes, including not possessing a firearm or dangerous weapon, not contacting victims or witnesses in the case, not accessing social media or chat-based platforms.

In addition, the U.S. District Court was allowed to install GPS monitoring and access his electronic devices to confirm compliance with the conditions. Travel for Holmes is limited to the Northern District of Illinois and the Middle District of Florida.

Prosecutors said Holmes will appear in federal court in Chicago on a date to be scheduled.

"The FBI works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year to swiftly detect and disrupt threats of violence across the country," said Douglas S. DePodesta, special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago field office. "Antisemitic speech and threats against the Jewish community are reprehensible, and our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners remain committed to holding accountable those seeking to intimidate or harm."

DePodesta added that public tips "are key in our shared effort of keeping Chicago safe," and encouraged the the public to report any suspicious or threatening behavior immediately by calling 9-1-1, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or online at tips.fbi.gov.