Nyawo, who is also known as Michael Jacobs, Robert Jacobs, Carl Fields, Victor Mitchells, and Jonathan Nyawo, is facing one count of stalking and 13 counts of interstate transmission of threatening communications, Massachusetts US Attorney Leah B. Foley’s office said in a statement. Nyawo converted to Islam a few years ago, and believes authorities are harassing him because he is a “Black Muslim,” court documents said. Nyawo is unemployed, allegedly has a drinking problem, and takes medication for a bipolar diagnosis, according to charging documents. In the last 20 years, he has traveled to South Africa to visit his father and to the United Kingdom, Senegal, Dubai, Serbia, and Mexico, records show. Nyawo has been detained in Miami since his arrest there on Feb. 5, Foley’s statement said. His first appearance hearing in Springfield has not yet been scheduled. Prosecutors allege that Nyawo made the alarming posts from July 3 to Nov. 7, alternately honing in on individuals or specific law enforcement agencies, other times threatening to bomb malls in Holyoke and Burlington, or to “torch” the children at a Springfield elementary school, charging documents show. On July 30, Nyawo allegedly posted: “Hey Wilbraham, what do your children think about the death threats they’re getting from Isis?” On Sept. 21, Nyawo allegedly turned his attention to the Springfield Police Department, urging readers of his posts to “hunt down and kill” their families “like they’re animals.” Five days later, on Sept. 26, Nyawo allegedly focused on a local couple, writing, “Shoot up the house on the corner ... that the Egyptian Jew and his Egyptian wife lives in. Kill their children if possible.” By Nov. 4, Nyawo was allegedly calling on the “Republican Guard [to] go to Washington DC and assassinate the DC politicians. Afterwards, assassinate the political leadership of Miami and Florida. Get the training, support, and money you need from the cartels.” Nyawo has been admitted at least twice to Walden Behavioral Health Center in Wilbraham and Bournewood Psychiatric Hospital in Brookline, court records show. While at Bournewood, hospital staff reported that Nyawo was “fixated on Jihad,” had a book about destroying America, and said “it’s time for me to die.” Each of Nyawo’s 13 charges carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.
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