A federal grand jury has indicted a man from Wright City with making threatening phone calls to a mosque in Georgia. The Associated Press reported that the indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. …
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A federal grand jury has indicted a man from Wright City with making threatening phone calls to a mosque in Georgia.
The Associated Press reported that the indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court charges 49-year-old Preston Q. Howard with placing 10 threatening calls to the Islamic Society of Augusta, Ga., between June and August.
The indictment says Howard phoned in a series of threats to “blow up the mosque” and “shoot and kill Muslims,” as well as to “behead” worshippers and set them on fire after dousing them with gasoline, the AP reported.
If convicted, Howard faces up to five years of imprisonment each for 10 charges of interstate communication with intent to threaten to injure.
U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine is prosecuting the case in the Southern District of Georgia. Court records don’t list an attorney for Howard.
The indictment of Howard arises out of an investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a public statement, FBI Atlanta Special Agent David LeValley said threats to instill fear in religious communities would not be tolerated.
Wright City Police Chief Matt Eskew said he is aware of the investigation against Howard, but that the Wright City Police Department is not involved.
Relatively little information is publicly available about Howard. Online Missouri court records don’t show any criminal history beyond a couple of traffic tickets.
September 27, 2016 Atlanta - Muslims at prayer in Atlanta in a 2016. AJC file photo. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM
HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
