New York City sex offender, 54, is charged with making online threats to kill Chuck Schumer, exterminate Democrats celebrating Joe Biden's victory and 'blow up the FBI building'

A registered sex offender from New York City has been charged with posting death threats on social media targeting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, anyone identifying themselves as a Democrat and also the FBI. 

The US Department of Justice said on Tuesday that the suspect, identified as 54-year-old Brian Maiorana, was unhappy with Joe Biden being declared the winner of the presidential election last week.

Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Maiorana at his Staten Island rental home on Tuesday and charged him with making threatening interstate communications after he posted threats directed towards Democratic politicians, people celebrating Biden's victory over President Donald Trump and law enforcement officials.

At a late afternoon hearing, a federal judge in Brooklyn ordered Maiorana detained while his lawyer works on a bail proposal, which the government plans to oppose.

Brian Maiorana, 54, from Staten Island, has been charged with making threatening interstate communications for directing threats at democrats and law enforcement

Maiorana allegedly made a threat towards Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, pictured celebrating Joe Biden's election win on Saturday, whom he called 'Jew Senator from Jew York'

'The Department of Justice will not stand idly by when people like the defendant allegedly threaten to kill elected officials, lawful protesters and law enforcement simply because of animus towards the outcome of an election,' stated Acting United States Attorney Seth DuCharme. 

'Americans have a constitutional right to voice their opinions, but this Office will not tolerate violence or threats of violence used to intimidate others with whom they disagree.' 

Prosecutors said Maiorana's online threats began before the November 3 election, including when he said on October 19 it had 'come to the point where pipe bombs need to be thrown into these mobs of potentially non violent violent protesters.'

In his online rants, Maiorana reportedly brought up the book The Turner Diaries, which imagines the overthrow of the US government and the extermination of non-whites

An unsealed criminal complaint alleged that Maiorana posted on November 5 that people claiming to be Democrats should be massacred, writing: 'the carnage needs to come in the form of extermination of anyone that claims to be democrat…as well as their family members.'

In an apparent response to widespread celebrations of Biden's victory on November 8, Maiorana posted: 'All right thinking people need to hit the streets while these scumbags are celebrating and start blowing them away.'

He also invoked Trump's unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, writing: 'Soap Box, Ballot Box…that was fraudulently stolen from us, Now Cartridge Box,' a reference to ammunition. 

There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Voting officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the election went well and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities. 

Continuing in the same vein, Maiorana stated that 'The Turner Diaries must come to life,' which is a reference to a 1978 novel influential among white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups, which depicts an overthrow of the US federal government, nuclear war, and ultimately, the extermination of Jews and non-whites. 

'The Turner Diaries' has been cited as inspiration for numerous acts of terrorism, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, according to the complaint. 

That same day, Maiorana seemingly referred to New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, by posting: 'As the Jew Senator from Jew York said nothing is off the table ... We blow up the FBI building for real. All the alphabet agencies assassination will become the new normal.'

In an apparent response to celebrations of Biden's victory on November 8, Maiorana posted: 'All right thinking people need to hit the streets while these scumbags are celebrating and start blowing them away'

At the hearing, Assistant US Attorney Artie McConnell said Maiorana's alleged threats were 'not simply idle chatter,' citing weapons found at his home through a search warrant, including a semiautomatic firearm and ammunition, parts for a .22 caliber pistol, a Taser, a crossbow and an expandable baton.

Maiorana also had in his possession anti-government literature and a skull mask.  

'This defendant greatly exceeded what can be characterized as political hyperbole,' McConnell said.

He also said Maiorana, a registered sex offender stemming from a 2007 conviction in Pennsylvania, had no legal right to own firearms or ammunition, was a flight risk and presented an 'irremediable threat' of danger to the community.

According to the federal complaint, the barrage of threats sparked by Trump's defeat was not the first time that Maiorana aired his extremist views and talked about taking up arms.  

Posting under the user name 'Proud Patriot Sailor' on a militia forum in June, Maiorana discussed his efforts to buy expensive machinery to start manufacturing 'implements of war.'   

Financial records obtained by the FBI indicated that between November 2018 and July 2020, Maiorana purchased a crossbow, combat boots and military patches, and gun parts for a semi-automatic handgun.