North Carolina Man Arrested for Sending Anti-Semitic Death Threat Letters

Federal authorities in the United States have arrested Brian Charles of Charlotte, North Carolina, on suspicion of sending anti-Semitic threat letters to Jewish community institutions and figures in Florida, as well as to a recipient in Washington D.C. Charles is accused of sending threatening mail, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

The investigation began following a series of envelopes sent between late June and early July to addresses in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. The investigation was led by FBI Agent Emily Goldwyn, with the approval of Judge Edwin Torres. Inside the envelopes were a blatant anti-Semitic caricature and threatening text, allegedly written in the first person as if from God, including a threat that Jews would die agonizing deaths.

Most of the envelopes displayed a return address along with Charles's name and address in Charlotte. Recipients included two board members of the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach and the local office of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Boca Raton. Additional envelopes were sent to the former home of a senior official at the pro-Israel organization AIPAC and to the organization's headquarters in Washington. Two other individuals, identified as being under Secret Service protection and residing in Jupiter, Florida, also received letters. The names of the six recipients were not disclosed in court documents.

Key evidence was found on a letter sent to the AJC office in Boca Raton: a latent fingerprint that was matched to Charles's prints by the Secret Service laboratory. Further fingerprint and handwriting analyses are ongoing. According to the investigation materials, this is not Charles's first brush with such allegations; in 2018, he pleaded guilty in New Mexico to five counts related to sending similar threat letters. He served jail time and was subsequently placed under supervision, which he violated on several occasions.