Ex-Firefighter Threatened ‘Mass Killings’ Against City Officials, Feds Say
A retired firefighter in Rhode Island appeared in court earlier this week on charges of threatening city officials with murder and terrorism, according to a criminal complaint made public Thursday. Barry J. LaFleur, 57, allegedly penned “tens-of-thousands” of hateful messages both while he was working for the city and after he’d left his job. In addition to dozens of emails, more than 30,000 of LaFleur’s online comments and posts, often under the handle “TheShapeOfThings,” threatened violence against other first responders or public officials, the affidavit said. His activities stretched back from 2014, when the then-firefighter was dealing with a workplace injury, to Jan. 6, 2022, when he called for the deaths of a number of Rhode Island public officials under an article marking the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection. After he did not return to work, he wrote in a 2014 comment threatening to kill Warwick’s mayor, fire chief, and police chief, “I no longer have a home, or job, or life to speak of, but I do have plenty of time, and a mandate.” Following a number of officials’ complaints that year, LaFleur was investigated by authorities at least twice. He was never prosecuted. According to Thursday’s affidavit, he is currently under house arrest.
Read it at The Boston Globe
http://www.thedailybeast.com/warwick-rhode-island-ex-firefighter-barry-lafleur-threatened-city-officials-with-mass-killings?via=newsletter&source=CSPMedition
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