NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A Long Island man was sentenced to prison for possessing a firearm as part of a planned terror attack on the New York Jewish community in 2022, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Christopher Brown, 23, had pleaded guilty on Sept. 18 to criminal possession of a weapon as a crime of terrorism and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr.
According to court documents, Brown expressed support for Nazi ideology and accelerationism across social media platforms. In one instance, Brown discussed getting tattoos of Nazi insignia, including a swastika on his heart.
He also expressed support for and a desire to copy Brenton Tarrant, who attacked two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
Brown, between Nov. 12, 2022, and Nov. 18, 2022, published several threatening Twitter posts under his username @VrilGod, including “God wants me to shoot up a synagogue and die,” “Gonna ask a Priest if I should become a husband or shoot up a synagogue and die,” and “This time I’m really gonna do it.”
In furtherance of this plot, he then paid co-defendant Matthew Mahrer $650 to buy a loaded firearm in Pennsylvania, according to prosecutors.
Brown was arrested at Penn Station on Nov. 18, 2022. MTA police recovered a knife, a Swastika armband and a ski mask from his backpack, according to court documents.
“I know that the Jewish community in Manhattan is continuing to face rising antisemitism and violent threats, and I want everyone to know that we are using every tool possible in coordination with our law enforcement partners to keep them safe,” Bragg said.
The case against Mahrer remains open and pending.