US Neo-Nazi Gets 16-Month Prison Term For Threats Against Journalists - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2020) The US sentenced Atomwaffen Neo-Nazi group member Johnny Garza to 16 months in prison for a plot to threaten reporters and activists, the Justice Department said in a statement.

"Garza is one of four men indicted in February 2020 for their plot to deliver threatening posters to journalists and advocates for minority groups," the release said on Wednesday.

Garza's crimes included threats against a Jewish journalist and participation in a plot to intimidate reporters and advocates who worked to expose anti-Semitism in the US, Assistant Attorney General for the department's Civil Rights Division explained in the release.

In his plea agreement, Garza, 21, admitted that he conspired with the other defendants via an encrypted online chat group to identify journalists and advocates to threaten in retaliation for the victims' work exposing anti-Semitism, the release said.

Defendant Taylor Parker-Dipeppe, 21, pleaded guilty in September 2020 and is scheduled for sentencing on February 24, 2021. The two leaders of the conspiracy, Kaleb Cole and Cameron Brandon Shea, are scheduled for trial on March 22, 2021, according to the release.