A Farmington Hills man has been charged with making a terrorism threat in connection with a post he made on social media that proposed violence against Palestinian residents of Dearborn, according to police.
Carl Mintz, 41, was arraigned Saturday in Dearborn’s 19th District Court on one count of making a threat of terrorism, a felony, and a misdemeanor malicious use of a telecommunications device.
Mintz’s post was discovered after someone anonymously shared it with the Dearborn Police Department Wednesday. He allegedly asked if anyone in Metro Detroit wanted to “go to Dearborn & hunt Palestinians,” according to a screenshot of the post Dearborn police shared with The Detroit News.
“We take all threats very seriously,” Dearborn police Chief Issa Shahin said in a statement. “Although we are currently unaware of any further credible threats, we have increased police patrols across Dearborn and at all places of worship in the interest of the public safety and security of our city’s residents, workers, and visitors.”
Mintz’s bond was set at $500,000. If released, he will have to wear a GPS tether and cannot have weapons or use the internet.
Making a terrorism threat carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Ethnic intimidation has a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
“Threats of violence against our community will not be tolerated,” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said in a statement. “We are pleased to see that the charges filed this weekend reflect the severity of the message of hate that this individual chose to post online last week.”
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, applauded Mitz’s arrest, but called on prosecutors to charge him with ethnic intimidation.
“Charging this suspect with a hate crime will send a strong message that you cannot utilize social media to threaten and intimidate whole communities based on bigotry and hate and that any person who calls for violence against a community based on their own hate will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” CAIR-MI staff attorney, Amy Doukoure said in a statement.
Michigan’s ethnic intimidation law makes it a crime to harm or threaten harm to someone for the purpose of intimidating or harassing them based on their national origin or religion.
“Hate has no home in Michigan, and violence based on hate has no place in civil society,” CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement. “We urge prosecutors to charge the suspect with Michigan’s Ethnic Intimidation Law to send a strong message that all Michiganders are safe from harm regardless of their national origin or religion and regardless of global politics.”
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