Yesterday, the FBI announced Craig Jungwirth has been charged with using interstate commerce to threaten physical harm to another person. He is currently in federal custody at the Seminole County Jail.
Jungwirth was first arrested Saturday on an unrelated matter. The Florida Highway Patrol stopped him for a traffic violation and then learned there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Although he was questioned last week about the Facebook post, he denied it and was not charged with the federal crime until yesterday.
A Facebook post appeared on Aug. 30 directed at the LGBT community in Wilton Manors, a small community that has a relatively large gay population and is located near Fort Lauderdale. The post, made on Jungwirth’s Facebook page, read in part that gays and lesbians do not deserve to live and if you thought the shooting at the Pulse nightclub was bad, people should wait to see what he has planned for Labor Day.
The post went on to say a genius from MIT can never be caught and regretted the fact gays and lesbians are not dying from AIDS. Jungwirth allegedly wrote, “It’s time to clean up Wilton Manors from all you AIDS infected losers.”
It has been confirmed Jungwirth is an MIT graduate who lives in Orlando with his mother.
The Miami Herald reports six restraining orders have been filed against Jungwirth since December 2013 for domestic violence and harassment. One of the persons who obtained a restraining order was the one who reported the Facebook post to the Wilton Manors Police Department.
Robert Boo, CEO of Pride Center, said he had chills when he first read the Facebook post and could not believe what he was actually reading. Many gay establishments have increased security since the threat first surfaced.
Jungwirth is scheduled to appear in federal court tomorrow.
