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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMan Arrested for Extortion for Threatening Mass Violence with an Automatic Weapon |
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Click here to access the PDF version of this release.
Miami (October 13, 2023) Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Federal Bureau of Investigations Joint Terrorism Task Force and the City of Miami Police Department announce the arrest of 52-year-old Mr. Maximo de la Cruz de Jesus who faces one count of Threats/Extorsion which is a Second-Degree Felony. The Defendant made threats of shooting people in a building and at a concert with an automatic weapon if he didn’t receive FBI and CIA protection from the Jewish people.
“Of course, any threat of mass violence or terrorism is extremely alarming especially during this difficult time of heightened awareness that we are experiencing,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “My top priority is ensuring the safety of every human being. Threatening to use violence will never be tolerated.”
On October 9, 2023, at approximately 10:10 a.m., the Federal Bureau of Investigations Miami Field Office (FBI) received a telephone call from Mr. de la Cruz de Jesus. During the recorded telephone call the Defendant stated, “a lot of people are going to die, like hundreds of people, shot dead they’re going to get executed”. Additionally, the Defendant continued to make threatening statements to the FBI operator that he has been “abused, manipulated, and kidnapped by the Jewish people and was going to walk up in a building and shoot up everybody with an automatic weapon”. He specifically stated that he was going to use an automatic weapon to shoot hundreds of people at a concert.
The Defendant stated to the operator that he has been contacting the FBI on numerous occasions over the years to report a crime and get protection from harassment. During the course of the almost 15-minute call, the FBI operator asked the Defendant why he wanted to hurt so many people to which the Defendant responded “because that has got to be the way that you get attention. What I want resolved is that I need protection. From a very from…from…from…from somebody in the government of the United States because I pay my taxes. I pay taxes and I need some kind of protection.” The Defendant stated that he wanted the police to provide him with protection. He stated “either from the police…uh local police from the City of Miami or from the FBI from…from the CIA from somebody. I need some kind of protection from this harassment”. Additionally, the Defendant continued to state that this has been happening to him for years and it has to be with the Jewish people.
Throughout the course of the call, the Defendant indicated that unless the FBI and or the City of Miami Police Department paid attention to him and took his report and/or provided him with protection, he was going to conduct a mass shooting.
It should be noted that a records check revealed that on 09/09/2014, the Defendant was arrested for criminal mischief for drawing swastikas on a synagogue in Miami Beach, Florida. During the course of the October 9, 2023, call the Defendant mentioned to the operator multiple times that he committed that offense.
Within a matter of hours of the completion of the telephone call, the Defendant was located in front of the Willkie D. Fergusons Jr. United States Courthouse in downtown Miami.
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For further information, please contact Claire LeBlanc, Public Information Officer, at (305) 302-7302 or ClaireLeblanc@MiamiSAO.com