After tracing the cross-country movements of a menacing anti-Muslim rabble-rouser from Arizona, the FBI took the unusual step of issuing an alert to New York law enforcement agencies to look out for him, sources said.
The FBI got involved after a Muslim group based near Albany notified the agency that Jon Ritzheimer, 32, of Phoenix had posted a video on Nov. 18 in which he showed a gun, made profane anti-Obama statements and said he was driving cross-country to confront them, sources and a group spokesman said.
Agents were able to talk with him initially, but two days later, when he was in Scranton, Penn., he got angry and cut off communication with them. At that point, the alert, citing a “potential threat to law enforcement,” was issued, sources said.
Ritzheimer, a former Marine, has made threats against Muslims a personal cause. He has organized an armed protest at a Phoenix mosque, threatened to “arrest” all senators who voted for President Obama’s nuclear pact with Iran, and encouraged all Americans to carry rifles in public for protection against terrorists.
Ritzheimer’s destination was the property in Hancock, N.Y of a group called the Muslims of America, which publishes a newspaper, The Islamic Post, which recently labeled him an “American Taliban.”
Ritzheimer bellows in the video that he’s “going to see those assholes who called me a f—— terrorist.”
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He continues, “F–k you Muslims. We’re gonna stop at virtually every mosque along the way, flip them off and tell them to get f—–.”
He then cocks the slide on a handgun.
He also insults President Obama: “And Obama, you stupid sorry sack of sh–t, you wanna come out and say we’re all afraid of these poor little widows and orphans? F–k you. That’s not what’s coming over here … And guess what: We’re f—–g ready for them.”
Ritzheimer deleted the video the same day he posted it, but not until after he had received numerous “likes” from his Facebook friends.
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He did not respond to two requests for comment made this week to his Facebook page.
A spokeswoman for the FBI’s Albany field office declined to discuss the specifics of the investigation or Ritzheimer’s whereabouts.
“The FBI vigorously investigates threats and allegations of hate crimes,” she said. “After recently becoming aware of a video which could have been perceived as threatening against the Muslim community in Hancock, N.Y., the FBI immediately took steps to notify our federal, state and local partners.”
The New York State Police and the NYPD declined to comment.
On his Facebook page, Ritzheimer calls himself a “three-percenter,” a reference to the 3% of the population of the American colonies that actively fought the British during the Revolutionary War. He describes his profession as “rogue infidel” and motorcycle mechanic.
“We get harassed like this all the time, so we let the FBI know as soon as we saw the video,” said Muhammad Matthew Gardner, a spokesman for the group. “We weren’t surprised because of what he’s said and done before. We upped our security at all our properties.”
Gardner added he was surprised that the FBI didn’t detain Ritzheimer immediately or at least question him about his anti-Obama remarks.
This isn’t the first time the Hancock group has been targeted. In May, Robert Doggart, a former Tennessee congressional candidate, was arrested for plotting to firebomb the property.
Doggart had written on his Facebook page: “We shall be Warriors who will inflict horrible numbers of casualties upon the enemies of our Nation and World Peace.”
Later, in a phone call to an informant he thought was an accomplice, he said: “Those guys [OUGHT OR HAVE]to be killed. Their buildings need to be burnt down.”
In July, Doggart pleaded guilty to one count of interstate communication of threats, and was placed under house arrest and ordered to seek counseling. A judge rejected the plea deal on technical grounds and the case is still pending.
