A Florida man accused of posting online threats to carry out mass violence has been arrested and charged with making an interstate threat and a weapon violation, federal court records show.

Alexander Lightner, 26, of Venice, Florida, allegedly posted comments online that were “intended to convey the message that he was planning to conduct a racially or ethnically motivated mass casualty event,” according to an affidavit.

He was interviewed by FBI agents from the bureau’s Tampa Field Office a week later on January 5, and law enforcement executed a search warrant at Lightner’s home before he was arrested.

While searching Lightner’s home, FBI agents found an unlawful firearm suppressor in a laundry hamper of a bedroom he shared with his brother and “propaganda regarding white supremacist and accelerationist ideology in Lightner’s bedroom,” according to court records.

  • Nougat@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    Am I the only one who’s relieved that the guy made an “interstate threat,” so that federal authorities were involved, instead of only Florida law enforcement?

  • maynarkh@feddit.nl
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    10 months ago

    a racially or ethnically motivated mass casualty event

    How nice of a way to avoid saying “white supremacist terror attack”.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Sounds like a philosophy created to suit the crowd who is cheering on the next civil war.

      • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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        10 months ago

        Combined with a lot of defeatist cope. “I don’t need to stay politically active, I’m just going to let it all burn down and build back from the ashes! I’m smart, not broken and lazy!”

        • stoly@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Definitely a lot of the rugged individualism as if they could recreate an electrical generator after the fall.

    • rafadavidc@ttrpg.network
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      10 months ago

      I gueeeeeeesssssssssssssss I can say yay cops here…

      BUT ONLY THIS ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND

    • FireTower@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Basically it’s someone that believes there is an up coming conflict (here seemingly a race war in his mind) and that by taking actions (here mass murder) they can cause the conflict to occur sooner, so they will sooner achieve their desired outcome of the conflict (here presumably some kind of ethno-state).

      It’s not always racially tied but seems to be in the particular case.

      • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        E.g. sometimes it’s religiously driven, like the evangelical nutjobs who believe that by behaving like shitheads in whatever capacity is their sect’s particular hobby-horse can somehow hasten the coming of the End Times. Whereupon they expect that they’ll totally be the special ones to be raptured up to heaven and not all those other sods just like them who aren’t “True Christians.”

    • theprogressivist @lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      It’s a bunch of losers who sabotage the current system to show how broken it is so they can burn it all down and create a new system. So, they accelerate the problems to overwhelm the system.

      • ArugulaZ@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        So, “Crash the old order and creat a new society!” Sounds like Elevator Action II without the fun parts.

    • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Accelerationist like effective-altruist is just another name for those who only know how to create problems, but not solve them. People with ideals and goals so heinously bad. The only way they can get people to go along with them. Is to ruin all other options. All while having the maturity of a toddler. Though in the case of actual toddlers that can be forgiven.

    • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I don’t know if you want to know, but they define it in the article if you care to read it…

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
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    10 months ago

    Dude is 26 and still sharing a bedroom with his brother? I know living at home longer is a common thing these days, but like that? I picture it as living in a spare room or in the basement or maybe a camper parked in the driveway. This guy isn’t going places. Literally. Except to prison.