Martin Alan Schnitzler faces 20 years in jail for hate crime.
AB Wire
A Florida-based man, Martin Alan Schnitzler, 43, has pleaded guilty to a hate crime, for calling two mosques located in Pinellas County in the state and threatening to firebomb the mosques and shoot their congregants.
Schnitzler pleaded guilty to obstructing persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs for making the violent threats, a cording to the Justice Department.
As part of his plea, he admitted that on Nov. 13, 2015, he intentionally obstructed members of the Islamic Society of St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Islamic Society of Pinellas County from practicing their religion when he left voicemail messages threatening the safety of the mosques’ congregants.
Schnitzler admitted that his threats were prompted by the terrorist attacks in Paris. Among other things, Schnitzler also admitted that in one of the voicemails he threatened to “personally have a militia” report to one of the mosques and “firebomb you, shoot whoever is there on sight in the head. I don’t care if they’re [expletive] two years old or a hundred.”
As a result of the above threats, both mosques requested increased law-enforcement presence at their locations and took extra safety precautions for congregants.
“Our Constitution and laws guarantee all people – regardless of where they worship – the right to live free from violence and discrimination,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Criminal threats of violence against people or places of worship have no place in our society, and as proven today, the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute those who commit religion-based hate crimes.”
Hatem Jaber, who said he is part of the administration at the Islamic Society of St. Petersburg, has expressed frustration with the case, saying Schnitzler should be prosecuted for terrorism because the members of the mosque, including children, were terrified, reported the Orlando Sentinel.
Jaber told The Tampa Tribune the mosque’s weekend school had to shut down for two weeks because families were terrified after Schnitzler’s threat, and to this day, many children still do not attend the school because of their parents’ fears.
According to the plea agreement, Schnitzler admitted to the FBI that he made the threats and that he wasn’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
He told the agent that what he had done was “stupid and wrong.” Authorities determined he was not an actual threat after a search of his apartment showed he had no weapons or explosives.
Schnitzler faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.