On the tense day that followed the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, an ex-midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy allegedly posted a message on a social media app popular among the brigade.
“Honestly not that surprised I’ll be carrying out the mass execution of my peers in a couple,” Jackson Elliot Fleming wrote anonymously from his home in Chesterton, Indiana, according to federal prosecutors.
Fleming’s alleged threat was quoted by prosecutors in new court documents filed in Indiana. The documents reveal more details about the criminal case against Fleming. He’s charged with one count of making a threat across state lines.
The message was posted on the Jodel app, which allows users to post hyperlocal comments anonymously. It’s become popular on college campuses.
Prosecutors offered no explanation in the new court document for how they traced the threat.
Much of the criminal case against Fleming remains sealed. Prosecutors also have offered no motive.
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Fleming’s attorney, Jonathan Bedi, declined to comment Monday. He previously said that he feels confident his client will be vindicated when the full story emerges.
Formerly a member of the Naval Academy’s Class of 2025, Fleming, 23, has been released on a $20,000 bond. His trial has not been scheduled.
The threat last month against the Annapolis school set off panic and confusion. Online social media chatter suggested that a shooter on the academy’s Annapolis campus was posing as law enforcement.
While authorities searched the dormitory, a Navy police officer encountered a midshipman who hit him in the head with the butt of a parade rifle. Firearms are not allowed in the dorm. Officials believe the midshipman mistook the officer as a threat, law enforcement sources said.
The police officer shot the midshipman around the upper arm and shoulder area, law enforcement sources said. Both the midshipman and the police officer were treated at the hospital and released.
The scare at the Naval Academy came one day after Kirk, the right-wing activist, was fatally shot at a college in Utah.
Colleges around the country, including Morgan State University in Baltimore, reported threats to their campuses, and the presiding officers of Maryland’s General Assembly received bomb threats.
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