A man from Amarillo recently pleaded guilty to threatening to execute three prominent Jewish rabbis.
As announced by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham, Christopher Stephen Brown admitted to making interstate threatening communications. The guilty plea was made on September 14 before U.S. Magistrate District Judge Lee Ann Reno.
Brown was indicted in December 2021 after he was charged in a criminal complaint on December 6, 2021. He now faces up to five years in federal prison.
As stated in the plea agreement, Brown admitted to making calls to Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish organization headquartered in New York City, with the aim of threatening rabbinical leaders.
Chabad Lubavitch is known to be a place where Jewish people have sought spiritual guidance and assistance since before the Holocaust. The organization maintains more than 3,500 institutions around the world.
Brown admitted to using the pseudonym “Madrikh Obadiah” in the calls and threatening to execute some of the organization’s rabbinical leaders, who were identified in court documents as Y.K., M.K., and L.S. He admittedly said in the calls that he would tear their eyes and tongues out and blow their heads off.
Over the course of multiple calls made to the organization, Brown further vowed to kill every rabbi he could find.
Brown also admittedly sent threatening messages to the organization through its website. He called for death to all Jews and shared a link to his YouTube channel, where he has threatening content uploaded.
Reacting to the case, Meacham referred to Brown’s “anti-Semitic views” as “disgusting.” He also condemned the defendant’s threats of violence, promising that his office will work to ensure that this sort of crime does not go unchecked and unpunished. “We will not allow our citizens to be subjected to this sort of menacing conduct,” he said.
FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno also spoke about the FBI’s handling of the case, calling Brown’s actions “a criminal violation” that “instills fear in a community that has long been a target of hateful rhetoric and violence.”
He promised that the FBI will uphold its mission to protect the American people and “will continue working with our law enforcement partners to pursue individuals who pose a threat to public safety.”
This investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, Amarillo Resident Agency, and the Randall County Sheriff’s Office. They were supported by the New York Police Department and the FBI’s New York Field Office.