Man charged with threatening to burn down Boston mosque
A Wilmington man appeared in Boston’s federal court Tuesday to face charges after he allegedly threatened to burn down mosques and unlawfully possessed ammunition. Patrick Keogan, 44, walked into court in a gray T-shirt, beige cargo pants, and a tattoo with the number “138” in block letters on the back of his neck. Judge Jennifer Boal appointed Keogan to public defender Jane Peachy and scheduled him for a detention hearing on Thursday afternoon. Keogan is accused of threatening the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury and the Islamic Society of Northeastern University over Facebook.
According to court documents, on November 14, 2015, he posted a meme to ISBCC’s page of a mosque in white flames, with the words, “Burn your local mosque,” in white block letters.
He also allegedly wrote, “Hello scumbags,” with a smiley face emoji.
According to court documents, it is not uncommon for ISBCC to “receive hateful and anti-Muslim messages.” However, this post arose special concern among the ISBCC staff, since it was posted a day after the November 13, 2015, terrorist attacks in Paris.
On the same day, under a different Facebook account, Keogan allegedly posted the same image on the Islamic Society of Northeastern University’s Facebook page. On this account, Keogan allegedly posted “derogatory/anti-Islamic comments regarding Muslims, though not directly addressing any specific members of the Muslim community,” according to court documents.
Also on this account, he made derogatory statements about Jews, “brown people,” homosexuals, and liberals, and belonged to a Facebook group called, the “Aryan Army,” according to court documents.
On December 22, 2015, FBI agents interviewed Keogan on the phone, in the course of the conversation he allegedly admitted to reposting the image of the burning mosque, and said he had been “dicking around online.” According to court documents, Keogan told agents that he was sorry and “he is too old to act this way.” He also allegedly told agents that he did not intend to harm Muslims or damage mosques.
A federal investigation showed that Keogan had allegedly been making posts on Facebook about burning mosques since 2013.
In a 2013 post, he allegedly shared a post that read, “On July 4th, Joplin, Missouri’s Islamic Center — the city’s only mosque — suffered roof damage after an unidentified man set it on fire by tossing a burning object onto the building.”
According to court documents, Keogan added, “Somewhere out there is an unknown hero. The people’s champion. A true God amongst mortal men. May your days be many & troubles be few my good man.”
FBI agents previously interviewed Keogan in March 16, 2013, after his apprentice electrician reported him to the FBI for making threats against Congress. In the interview, Keogan allegedly told agents he is often, “vocal about his political beliefs, especially when drinking.” He added that sometimes, he “drinks too much.”
Keogan was convicted in 2000 for his second offence of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor, and in 2006 for assault and battery with a deadly weapon, according to court documents.
He is prohibited from possessing firearms, but he allegedly posted on Facebook about using, selling, and buying them.
In the course of the federal investigation into Keogan, agents received a warrant to place a GPS on his car that allegedly tracked him to a gun store where he purchased four boxes of 88mm rifle ammunition.
Keogan could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge against him.
This is the second time someone has faced federal charges for threatening the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury on Facebook. In December 2015, Gerald Wayne Ledford of Clinton, Iowa, was sentenced to four years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure.
In an interview, Yusufi Vali, the executive director ISBCC said,
“We are grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI for following up on this case and taking action.”
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