Feds: Abortion clinic threat suspect was online follower of Boardman teen
A man accused of threatening to shoot people at an abortion clinic in Chicago was an online follower of Boardman threat suspect Justin Olsen according to federal authorities.
CHICAGO - A man accused of threatening to shoot people at an abortion clinic in Chicago was an online follower of Boardman threat suspect Justin Olsen according to federal authorities.
FBI agents raided 19-year-old Farhan Sheikh at his Chicago apartment on August 16 alleging that Sheikh posted the threat on the social media platform iFunny.
Olsen, who was arrested eight days earlier at his father's Boardman Township apartment, allegedly used the same iFunny app to make a post threatening the lives of federal agents.
An FBI agent states in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago that Sheikh posted a message on “iFunny” berating the arrest of Olsen, whose screen name was “ArmyOfChrist” according to investigators.
Sheikh, who the FBI says has an iFunny user name of “awarded” and charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, allegedly posted the following message:
“They arrested armyofchrist for no reason except suppressing us and our freedoms. I will dothesame to these [expletive] whores who think its a 'freedom' to murder an innocent life. Come after me you degenerate government puppets, stop me if you can”
The post that led the FBI to investigate Sheikh appeared on iFunny on August 13, 2019, under the user name “awarded.”
“I am done with my state and their [expletive] abortion laws and allowing innocrnt kids to be slaughtered for the so called 'womans right' [expletive]. Ive seen nothing but whores go out of their way to get an abortion, but no more. I will not tolerate this anymore. Im DONE. On August 23rd 2019, I will go to the [abortion clinic name redacted] in Chicago on [street name redacted] I will proceed to slaughter and murder and doctor, patient, or visitor I see in the area and will not back down. Consider this a warning for anyone visiting.”
The complaint also included a screenshot of the following post from “awarded.”
“To all the fbi agents in this app, I am NOT a satirical account. I post what I mean and I WILL carryout what I post.”
FBI agents who arrested Sheikh say he admitted owning the “awarded” account, further admitting that he made posts about an abortion clinic shooting as a “joke.” Police say Justin Olsen also characterized his alleged threats to federal authorities as a joke when he was arrested.
Sheikh also admitted that he was one of the 4,400 subscribers to Funny user “ArmyOfChrist.”
Olsen, 18, remains in the Mahoning County jail on a federal charge of threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer. Magistrate Judge George Limbert declared that Olsen poses a serious risk that will endanger the safety of another person or the community.
Olsen's defense attorney, Gerald Ingram, has requested a transcript of the proceedings from an August 16 hearing in U.S. District Court where the case was bound over to a federal grand jury.
Another threat suspect is also being held on bond in the Mahoning County jail. Twenty-year-old James Reardon of New Middletown is accused of posting a video threat to the Youngstown Jewish Community Center.
Reardon faces local charges filed in Struthers Municipal Court.
Even if Reardon posts a $250,000 bond, federal authorities have placed a hold on him. As of Wednesday morning, the U.S. District Court's online docket did not show any federal charges had been filed against Reardon.
