A Seattle man was arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening to murder black people at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York, where 10 were gunned down in a racially motivated rampage in May.
Joey David George, 37, called the supermarket on Tuesday and Wednesday, inquiring about how many black people were in the store, ranting about a race war, and musing about killing the store’s patrons, according to a criminal complaint. He is being held in the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac in Washington.
BUFFALO SUSPECT PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL HATE CRIME CHARGES
“The Buffalo community is trying to heal from the horrific shooting at a Tops grocery store. I cannot imagine the type of fear such hate-fueled threats engendered in those just trying to go about their daily lives,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said, according to a press release from the Justice Department.
“We cannot tolerate this kind of hate in our community and will not sit by while people seek to terrorize others across our country,” he added.
During the call with the store, George pondered whether he would “make the news if he shot and killed all of the Black people, including all of the women, children, and babies,” a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. Western District of Washington said. He allegedly attempted to mask his phone number using *67, but authorities ultimately traced the call back to him.
George was charged with two counts of interstate threats and was slated for arraignment on Friday. The charges carry up to five years in prison per count.
The new complaint against George was just the latest in a string of similar incidents, the complaint indicated. In May, he allegedly called a restaurant in California and threatened to shoot black and Hispanic patrons. He also made similar calls to businesses in Maryland and Connecticut, according to the complaint.
Tops grocery store in Buffalo is still reeling from a tragic shooting spree on May 14 in which a gunman is believed to have deliberately targeted the store, located in a predominantly black Buffalo neighborhood.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Authorities recovered a 180-page manifesto with racist tirades and talk of the “great replacement theory,” which contends elites are striving to supplant white people with nonwhite people.
All 10 of the victims in the shooting were black. Three others were wounded in the massacre. The suspected gunman was apprehended by authorities and is facing dozens of hate, gun crime, and murder charges at both the state and federal levels. The newly renovated Tops store reopened its doors to customers earlier this month for the first time since the shooting.
