A Waterville resident, Benjamin Brown, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor on October 7, 2025, for making threatening interstate communications. Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced Brown, 47, to time served—approximately six months in prison—followed by three years of supervised release. Brown had pleaded guilty on June 27, 2025.
Court documents show that on February 8, 2024, Brown posted comments on YouTube threatening to hunt down and kill illegal immigrants. He claimed that no one could stop him from killing illegal immigrants, including law enforcement officers. Prior to this incident, federal agents had met with Brown twice regarding other online comments he made and warned him about the federal crime of making interstate threats.
Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said: “Words matter, and when those words are violent threats, the FBI takes them seriously. What Benjamin Brown did in threatening to hunt down and kill illegal immigrants was not only reprehensible but criminal, and he is now being held accountable. We will continue to work with our partners to identify and bring to justice those who use the internet to incite fear and threaten violence.”
U.S. Attorney Andrew B. Benson stated: “There is no online safe haven for threats to kill others. Indeed, threats posted online can have a much broader impact than those made in person. No matter how frustrated or angry you are, don’t post threats to kill someone else unless you want law enforcement to show up and hold you accountable. The U.S. Attorney’s Office thanks the hard-working investigators from the FBI and U.S. Secret Service for their work on this case.”
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and U.S. Secret Service with support from U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as the Waterville Police Department.
According to an editor's note attached to the release, publication was delayed due to a federal government shutdown; it became available after normal operations resumed.
