A Long Island man has admitted guilt in threatening allies of the LGBTQIA+ community, according to a Feb. 23 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
Robert Fehring is facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to mailing more than 20 letters threatening to shoot, bomb and assault LGBTQ affiliated people over the course of eight years, the DOJ reported.
“In pleading guilty today, the defendant admits that he sent hate-filled communications that threatened mass shootings, bombings and other fatal attacks, to members of the LGBTQ+ community,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in the release.
Peace declared that his office will "use all of its available law enforcement tools to protect the safety and civil rights" of the LGBTQIA+ community, and thanked the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office for its assistance in the investigation.
Fehring's letters included threats to the 2021 New York City Pride March and written assaults to a LGBTQIA+-affiliated barbershop in Brooklyn.
Michael Driscoll, FBI assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office, added that Fehring's guilty plea "underscores the FBI's commitment to rigorously investigating civil rights violations."
"Anonymous threats against members of our community will eventually be uncovered, and those who are responsible for them will be held accountable," Driscoll said.
