A 32-year-old Pennsylvania man who openly identified himself as a white supremacist and Nazi is facing federal charges after threatening violence against a member of Congress, Muslims, transgender people, and Democrats, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh handed down a 12-count indictment naming Robert Hlovchiec as the sole defendant. The DOJ’s statement did not identify which member of Congress was targeted.
According to prosecutors, Hlovchiec posted threatening comments on YouTube videos between February and March of this year. Those threats targeted the unnamed lawmaker, Democrats and liberals, transgender individuals, and various minority communities including Muslims.
Among the threats quoted by the DOJ, Hlovchiec wrote: “If i get the chance im going to do a mass shooting wherever (member of Congress) is standing. (Member of Congress) needs to die … America is not for sale. America is not a Muslim country.”
In a separate threat, he allegedly wrote: “If i get the chance I’ll shoot everyone in (member of Congress)’s family. America is a white Christian nation. We are ready to kill and die before foreigner Muslims take over.”
The grand jury charged Hlovchiec with interstate threats and with attempting to influence, impede, or retaliate against a federal official through threats. The DOJ noted that Hlovchiec also expressed desires to carry out mass shootings and assassinations.
Attempts to reach a representative for the defendant were unsuccessful at the time of the announcement.
Rights advocates in the United States have pointed to a steady rise in Islamophobia over the more than two decades since the September 11, 2001 attacks, with more recent factors including anti-immigration policies, white supremacist activity, and tensions surrounding Israel’s war in Gaza. Political experts have also raised separate alarms about the growing threat of political violence driven by increasing polarization across the country.
