The FBI says a North Carolina man sent a threatening email to a synagogue in Charlotte in the days after Hamas militants attacked Israel.
When police went to his house to ask about the threats, the man sent another threatening email to the same synagogue, according to the FBI.
After that second email, police arrested Jeffrey Scott Hobgood, of Troy, North Carolina, on Monday.
“No one in America should be threatened based on their race, nationality, religion, gender, or other protected characteristics,” United States Attorney Sandra Hairston said in a news release.
“Individuals who target other community members will be held accountable for their actions,” she said.
In the first email, dated Oct. 11, Hobgood said, “I am going to take out every one of you,” according to the FBI.
He signed both emails "J. Scott Hobgood."
"Guess what happens to traitors? Guess what happens to dual citizenship? Public execution," he wrote in the second email, the FBI said in its criminal complaint.
Federal investigators also said Hobgood threatened a family member in Tennessee.
Hobgood is charged in federal court with "transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injure the person of another." He could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.