Grand Jury Indicts Man After Violent Threats Against Boston Globe

BOSTON – A federal grand jury indicted a California man who was previously arrested and charged with making violent threats against Boston Globe employees in retaliation for the newspaper’s editorial response to political attacks on the media, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Robert D. Chain, 68, of Encino, Calif., was indicted on seven counts of use of interstate and foreign commerce to transmit a threat to injury another person. Chain was previously charged by criminal complaint and arrested on Aug. 30. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston on Sept. 24.

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On Aug. 10, the Boston Globe announced that it was requesting that other newspaper publications around the country publish a coordinated editorial response to political attacks on the media. The coordinated editorial response was to be published on Thursday, Aug. 16.

Following the announcement, Chain allegedly began making threatening calls to the Boston Globe’s newsroom. In the calls, Chain referred to the Globe as “the enemy of the people” and threatened to kill newspaper employees.

On Aug. 16, the day the editorial response was published in the Boston Globe, Chain called the Globe newsroom and threatened that he was going to shoot Globe employees in the head “later today, at 4 o’clock.”

As a result of that call, law enforcement officers maintained a presence outside the Globe's office building to ensure the safety of the employees.

The seven counts charged in the indictment relate to seven separate threatening phone calls that Chain allegedly made to the Globe newsroom.

The man faces up to five years, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 if convicted of making threatening communications in interstate commerce.

Previously: Man Threatened To Kill Boston Globe Workers After Editorial

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Photo by Alison Bauter for Patch