May 27 (UPI) — A man accused of possessing a cache of weaponry and making threats against a Jewish community center in Ohio in 2019 has pleaded guilty to federal charges, according to the Justice Department.
James Reardon, 22, of New Middleton, Ohio, pleaded guilty Wednesday to transmitting a threatening communication and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
New Middleton police arrested Reardon in August 2019 after authorities were alerted to a post on his Instagram account of a video capturing a man believed to be Reardon firing multiple rounds, which is not illegal.
However, the July 11, 2019, post was captioned “Police identified the Youngstown Jewish Family Community shooter as white nationalist Seamus O’Reardon,” which police interpreted as a threat to commit violence against the center.
The Youngstown Police Department and the FBI raided Reardon’s mother’s New Middletown home, confiscating two AR-15s, a rifle equipped with a bayonet, a .40-caliber anti-tank gun and an assortment of knives as well as several magazines, ammunition, a gas mask and a bullet-resistant vest, authorities said.
The FBI said it also identified Reardon in a National Geographic documentary on the “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in which counterprotester Heather Heyer was killed.
Reardon is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22.
