Man Charged With Threatening LGBTQ+ Community: Feds

BAYPORT, NY — A 74-year-old Bayport man was charged with mailing threatening letters to LGBTQ+ affiliated people and organizations, federal officials said.

Robert Fehring reportedly threatened bombings and mass shootings that would make the 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub attack "look like a cakewalk," according to a criminal complaint announced by Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Michael J. Driscoll, assistant director-in-charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, New York field office.

The criminal complaint unsealed Monday in federal court in Central Islip charged Fehring with mailing letters threatening to assault, shoot, and bomb LGBTQ+ affiliated individuals, organizations, and businesses, federal officials said.

Fehring was arrested Monday morning and appeared Monday afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke, federal officials said.

According to the complaint, since at least 2013, Fehring has been sending individuals associated with the LGBTQ+ community letters in which he threatened violence, including threatening the use of firearms and explosives. One letter threatened that there would “be radio-cont[r]olled devices placed at numerous strategic places” at the 2021 New York City Pride March with “firepower” that would make the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting "look like a cakewalk,” referencing the 2016 attack in which 49 persons were killed and dozens wounded at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL, the complaint said.

Fehring was also alleged to have a sent a letter threatening the organizer of a June 2021 Pride event in East Meadow, federal officials said. The letter stated: “[W]e were right there you…FREAK!!! They couldn’t get a shot off at you, slithering around the backstage area like a snake. Too many cops. Very disappointed. But your time has come . . . They are out to KILL you . . . and your boyfriend. You are being watched. No matter how long it takes, you will be taken out . . . high-powered bullet . . . bomb . . . knife . . . whatever it takes.”

On November 18, members of the FBI’s civil rights squad and the New York joint terrorism task force executed a search warrant at Fehring’s home in Bayport and recovered photographs from a June 2021 Pride event in East Meadow, two loaded shotguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, two stun guns, and a stamped envelope addressed to an LGBTQ+ affiliated attorney containing the remains of a dead bird, federal officials said.

“As alleged, the defendant's hate-filled invective and threats of violence directed at members of the LGBTQ+ community have no place in our society and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Peace said.

“Fehring’s alleged threats to members of the LGBTQ+ community were not only appalling, but dangerous, despite the fact he hadn’t yet acted on his purported intentions,” Driscoll said.

If convicted of the charge, Fehring faces up to five years in prison, federal officials said.

Glenn Obedin, Fehring's attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment.