BROOKLAWN, NJ — A Camden County man who considered staging a machete attack at a mall in Middlesex County has been sentenced to one year, one day in prison after admitting to his participation in a conspiracy to attack minority-owned businesses, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Richard Tobin, 20, of Brooklawn, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy against rights. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
He admitted to conspiring with members of “The Base” white supremacist group to threaten and intimidate African Americans and Jewish Americans by vandalizing minority-owned properties throughout the country in September 2019, according to authorities.
“Richard Tobin encouraged hateful acts of violence against individuals and their houses of worship, based on their religion or the color of their skin,” Honig said. “Justice demanded that he be held accountable for these racist and antisemitic actions, and we are proud to have joined with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division and the Joint Terrorism Task Force in doing so in this case. Our commitment to protecting the civil rights of all in New Jersey is steadfast.”
“The defendant conspired with a white supremacist hate group to vandalize and destroy property owned by Jewish and Black Americans, intending to instill fear into those communities across the country,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “This sentence makes clear that targeting persons owning and using property simply based on their race or religion will not be tolerated. The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute civil rights conspiracies and vindicate the rights of victims of bias motivated crimes.”
During the investigation, Tobin told FBI officials that during a trip to Menlo Park Mall in Edison, the presence of African-American shoppers caused him to become “enraged,” according to an affidavit of probable cause.
He kept a machete in his car, and thought about using it to “let loose” on other the other shoppers with it. He never acted on that impulse, but told investigators “he would act on his feelings if he was more frequently surrounded by the things that triggered him,” such as ethnic, religious, or racial minorities.
If Tobin believed that he was dying, or that “failure was imminent,” he would also be more likely to “go out in a blaze of glory,” presumably through violence, investigators said. Read more here: Man Considered Staging Machete Attack At Menlo Park Mall: Feds
He did admit that from Sept. 15 to Sept. 23, 2019, he communicated online with other members of the white supremacist group, directing them to destroy and vandalize properties affiliated with African Americans and Jewish Americans, according to authorities.
Tobin dubbed the planned attacks “Kristallnacht,” or “Night of Broken Glass,” after an attack in Germany on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, in which Nazis murdered Jewish people and burned and destroyed Jewish homes, synagogues, stores and schools, authorities said.
He implored members of The Base to post propaganda flyers and to break windows and slash tires belonging to African Americans and Jewish Americans, authorities said.
On Sept. 21, 2019, members of “The Base” vandalized synagogues in Racine, Wisconsin, and Hancock, Michigan, by spray-painting them with hate symbols, according to authorities.
Tobin previously admitted to directing fellow group members to “tag the sh–” out of the synagogues with spray-painted hate symbols.
Many of Tobin’s feelings were “triggered by the state of the country,” he previously told investigators. Just standing in Times Square was enough to set off his emotions, court records show.
Yousef Omar Barasneh, another conspirator in the scheme, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights in federal court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, for his role in vandalizing the synagogue in Racine, Wisconsin.
“Richard Tobin’s white supremacist beliefs are abhorrent, but his beliefs aren’t why he’s going to prison,” Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, said. “He actively conspired with others to commit a crime of violence, to victimize innocent people because of who they are or how they worship. That’s what crossed a line and made it the FBI’s business. We’re always going to pursue individuals inciting violent, hateful acts meant to intimidate and isolate members of our community.”