A Florida man was indicted over the weekend after investigators said he posted videos displaying firearms, tactical equipment and a flamethrower while threatening Jews and allegedly planning an attack on worshippers during Shabbat services.
Duncan MacDonald of Clay County was arrested Sept. 19 after authorities received alerts from Jewish organizations about material he had posted on Instagram. According to an FBI affidavit, one video featured a male voice saying: “You know you need these because we’re going to hunt Jews out here. We’re going to take them out because the Austrian painter was right,” an apparent coded reference to Adolf Hitler.
Some of the weapons displayed by the defendant
(Photo: social media)
Investigators identified MacDonald in one of the videos by comparing images with his driver’s license photograph. They also uncovered text messages in which he referred to “Shabby services,” a term investigators said was being used as code for Shabbat prayers.
The federal investigation began after the Secure Community Network, or SCN, and the Jewish Federation of Northeast Florida identified the posts and alerted authorities. Investigators later obtained data from Meta and T-Mobile linking MacDonald to the Instagram account and phone number, and located his vehicle in Middleburg around the time of his arrest.
Miriam Feist, CEO of the local Jewish federation, welcomed the swift arrest and said the response demonstrated the strength of the community’s security efforts. Michael Masters, CEO of SCN, said: “Our strong partnerships allow us to work together to protect our communities and build resilience to ensure security is never a barrier to Jewish life.”