Jewish community targeted by SC man threatening mass shooting, prosecutor says
A South Carolina man was recently arrested for using YouTube to make violent threats, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Lucas Brandon Rousso, a 30-year-old Easley resident, was arrested by federal agents and charged with making threatening communications online, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Investigators were alerted to a YouTube account posting threatening comments alluding to violence and harm that targeted the Jewish community, according to the release.
The threatening comments were posted from June through Dec. 12 on a YouTube account named “Ginjer Ninjer,” the Greenville News reported.
The comments were posted to videos the account uploaded and escalated over the past few months, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Most recently, Rousso posted, “I’m going to commit a mass shooting,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Further details about the threats, and a motive for making them, were not available.
Investigators traced the account to an IP address, email address and device belonging to Rousso, according to the release. When interviewed by law enforcement, Rousso admitted that he posted the comments to YouTube, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
On Tuesday, Rousso was taken into custody by the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, WYFF reported.
Rousso made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge William Brown on Wednesday, and will have a detention hearing Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
If convicted, Rousso faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and the Easley Police Department.
“Making threats online has consequences,” Kevin Moore, FBI Columbia Special Agent in Charge said, according to WYFF.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Max Cauthen is prosecuting the case.
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