FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A freelance journalist based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, faces up to five years in federal prison for allegedly threatening to "kill every Jew in the city" and "shoot every pro-Israel American***," according to a federal affidavit filed with a court last week.
Jeffrey Stevens, 41, is charged with using interstate communications to post threats and carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. He made "a number of worrying posts" on Facebook after the October 7 attack on Israel, and subsequently made his first report to the FBI, according to the affidavit.
In a Feb. 2 interview with the FBI, Stevens admitted that he would shoot pro-Israel Americans in a Feb. 2 interview that he would shoot pro-Israel Americans, according to the affidavit, Stevens admitted to sending a message to the Fort Wayne Police Department on Facebook saying he would "kill every Jew."
The affidavit said he said in an interview that he was drunk when he posted the information.
Stevens is also accused of posting that he would "make sure to eliminate every pro-Israel **intelligence service member."
The Detroit News first reported the affidavit Monday.
The affidavit was filed Feb. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
Stevens, pursuant to a federal judge's Feb. 16 order, will remain in custody last week.
Stevens' lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A survey released Tuesday by the Jewish Council of America found that a quarter of American Jews said they had been the target of antisemitism over the past year. The national survey found that nearly two-thirds of American Jews feel less secure in the United States than they did a year ago.