After nearly two weeks of review by the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office, federal charges in the case of a Aug. 11 threat against Youngstown鈥檚 Jewish Community Center were unsealed Aug. 29.
James P. Reardon, 20, of New Middletown, Ohio, was arrested Aug. 16 and charged with one federal count of transmitting threatening communications via interstate commerce. Federal law allows for several weeks of investigation, officials said at a press conference Thursday at the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office in Cleveland, and the ongoing investigation could result in additional federal charges.
鈥淲e will continue to use that time to continue our investigation and see if others were involved,鈥� said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Smith.
Reardon has already entered a plea of not guilty on local charges of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing and was being held on $250,000 bond. In light of the federal charges, Reardon was taken out of local custody and transferred to federal max prison, according to U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman.
A former friend of Reardon鈥檚 approached a New Middletown officer with her concerns about an Instagram video of Reardon firing a semiautomatic weapon with a mock headline caption that read in part, 鈥淧olice identified the Youngstown Jewish Family Community shooter as local white nationalist Seamus O鈥橰earedon.鈥� The suspect tagged the Youngstown Jewish Community Center on Gypsy Lane in the video. Law enforcement found additional, similarly alarming videos during the investigation, including one of Reardon at the August 2017 white nationalist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The JCC campus also includes the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, the Levy Gardens assisted-living facility, Heritage Manor nursing home and Akiva Academy, a Jewish day school.
New Middletown Police Chief Vince D鈥橢gidio said the content and references to JCC were too serious to ignore.
"(The video) showed (Reardon) firing a semi-automatic assault rifle. It seemed like he was projecting something and that鈥檚 what kept us going because it identified a specific threat,鈥� he said.
Reardon was arrested as officers searched his house. They found a cache of weapons and Nazi memorabilia, including a German assault rifle. The gun is not illegal.
D鈥橢gidio, and all the officials at Thursday鈥檚 press conference, stressed that the arrest was made before any violence occurred 鈥渂ecause a citizen came forward.鈥�
鈥淚t happens in a small town. It doesn鈥檛 have to happen in a big city,鈥� said D鈥橢gidio, who noted New Middletown has a population about 1,700 and three full-time police officers.
Often,after the fact, a friend or neighbor says they knew about someone鈥檚 ill intentions weeks or months in advance but didn鈥檛 want to be alarmist or accusatory, D鈥橢gidio said, but in this case after concerns were raised and it became clear the suspect 鈥渉as a history with white nationalist ideologies,鈥� the FBI was contacted. After the initial complaint came in around 4 p.m., a warrant was issued and the suspect was in the county jail by 10:45 p.m. that night.
鈥淚t was by the book. Everything went perfect,鈥� D鈥橢gidio said. 鈥淟aw enforcement-wise. Not for Mr. Reardon.鈥�
Herdman issued a strong warning to "white supremacists and white nationalists:" the First Amendment doesn't give them the right to harm others based on race, ethnicity or religion.
鈥淭he constitution protects your right to think, your right to think, and your right to believe. What you don鈥檛 have though, is the right to take out your frustration by resorting to violence,鈥� he said.
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