INDIANAPOLIS — A federal grand jury has indicted an Avon man accused of posing as a member of the “Alt-Right” on the website 4Chan to issue threats against attendees at the Boston Free Speech Rally.
Eric M. Radulovic, 32, faces one count of transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a threat to injure the person of another – a charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Radulovic posted on 4Chan’s “Politically Incorrect” message board, called /pol/, that he would shoot white attendees at the Boston rally in August 2017 to obtain sympathy for the Alt-Right movement.
“I’m going to bring a Remington 700 and start shooting Alt-Right guys,” Radulovic wrote, according to federal prosecutors. “We need sympathy after that landwhale got all the liberals teary eyed, so someone is going to have to make it look like the left is becoming more violent and radicalized. It’s a false flag for sure, but I’ll be aiming for the more tanned/dark haired muddied jeans in the crowd so real whites won’t have to worry.”
Radulovic allegedly posted his message on a thread inviting “libertarians, conservatives, traditionalists, classical liberals, Trump supporters or anyone else who enjoys their right to free speech” to attend the rally and “stand up against ANTIFA terrorism.” Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” is a loose collection of individuals who “generally oppose the white supremacist and ‘Alt-Right’ movements,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Radulovic was angered by the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed when James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly drove his car through a crowd of counterprotesters at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The indictment alleges that Radulovic posted the message for the purpose of issuing a threat against those planning to attend the Boston rally, and that he knew it would be interpreted as a threat.
The Boston Free Speech Rally ultimate ended earlier than planned when an estimated 40,000 counterprotesters showed up to oppose the event, according to the Washington Post.
Radulovic was scheduled to appear in federal court in Indianapolis Friday afternoon. A hearing in Boston was scheduled for June 20.
In addition to five years’ incarceration, Radulovic faces up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 if found guilty.
(Photo by seb_ra/Thinkstock.)
