‘Islamic State’ members threaten Jewish-owned DC business
'I'm going to kill you,' self-proclaimed followers of terrorist group tell proprietor
Individuals who identify as members of the Islamic State terrorist group have been calling a Jewish businessman in Washington, DC, for months, threatening to kill him and his employees.
The callers have also posted threats on the internet, saying they will carry out a mass killing, local ABC outlet WJLA reported Tuesday.
The station did not identify the name of the business or its owner, citing the sensitivity of the case.
The businessman said he had called the police, who passed the case on the Department of Homeland Security.
The threats, which included anti-Semitic, racist, and homophobic language, were deemed not credible by DHS, he said, which turned the case back to the police.
The threats started in August, and have come in almost every day by phone and online, the owner said.
“I’m going to kill you, [employee name withheld],” a male voice said in one of the messages. “I’m going to murder you. This is a threat.”
In the wake of the killings in France that left 17 dead earlier in January, employees are afraid that the threats might turn into actual attacks.
The calls were said to be traceable, but both the police and the Verizon phone company say that the other has to initiate the process.
The Islamic State jihadist group controls large swaths of Syria and Iraq, in which its members have killed thousands of rivals and people it deems heretics, some of whom were beheaded.