A Weymouth Township man is accused of targeting a rabbi on social media, and calling for the killing of Jewish people and supporters of Israel.
Random Huntley, 27, was ordered held in jail Monday, after a judge heard details of the posts made on various social media platforms since March.
“It appears that it started out with general disagreement with regard to the conflict in the Middle East,” Judge Joseph Levin said. “But that escalates over the course of the posts.”
Huntley is accused of specifically targeting a rabbi — identified in court only by the initials S.W. — who lives in the state and is the leader of the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces.
In a March 28 Instagram post, Huntley included a photo of the rabbi, the man’s home address, images of his residence and comments calling for “protests,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Allison Eiselen told the judge.
“Upon reviewing the defendant’s other public postings, it is clear the defendant’s usage of the term ‘protest’ was a call for violence, as many of his other postings explicitly called for violently killing Jews and assassinating leaders of organizations and political entities that support Israel,” Eiselen read from the affidavit of probable cause.
Huntley faces six charges, including one count of second-degree bias intimidation and three third-degree counts of terroristic threats.
Public defender Stephen Funk questioned the state’s case, saying that a victim is required for each of the charges his client faces, and that he received no evidence backing the charges.
He also said that the information Huntley posted about the rabbi was all publicly accessible.
“It’s not illegal to have contrary or provocative opinions,” Funk said.
The judge agreed that the First Amendment allows everyone free speech.
“At some point it goes over the criminal line when you threaten to kill someone,” Levin said.
That is allegedly what happened in at least one post.
“I don’t give a f--- about living,” Huntley allegedly wrote in an April 11 post. “I’ll kill his entire family and then shoot it out with police when they arrive.”
“It goes from pretty general posts about the conflict and whether the conflict is just on one side or the other to specific threats to kill,” the judge said, stressing that he was looking at the posts “in their totality.”
Huntley also was “coaching others on how to use coded language in order to evade algorithms that deter hate speech on social media platforms,” Eiselen said.
But Huntley was not just a threat to those online, Eiselen said.
When his Dorothy home was raided June 13, family members expressed fear of him as well, she said.
“The family said the defendant converted to Islam and they became increasingly concerned about him and his bizarre views and behavior,” Eiselen said. “His aunt expressed she is afraid of him and would feel safer if he did not return to their home in Dorothy.”
Investigators found books that included “The Al Queda Reader” and “Hitler’s Second Book.”
There were also weapons inside the home.
“Family members reported keeping firearms as protection against this defendant who they are afraid of,” Eiselen said.
Huntley’s one prior conviction involved a gun as a juvenile, used in a purse-snatching.
The public safety assessment used to help determine whether a defendant is held under bail reform had his at the lowest risk for both failure to appear and dangerousness, recommending he be released without conditions.
But the judge said it did not take everything into account.
Before making his decision, Levin said he read through the posts the state submitted, and found Huntley “appears to be inciting others to violence.”
“There needs to be open warfare with you Yids on the streets of America,” read one post.
In another, the judge said Huntley appears to call for the stabbing Jews to death: “What I’d give to feel the percussion of a blade crunching through the flesh of one of you insects.”
“These threats passed the free speech line long ago,” the judge said.
Huntley will remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
