Long Island man sentenced to prison for dozens of anti-LGBTQ death threats

[The Bobster]

Loading…

nypost.com

Long Island man sentenced to prison for dozens of anti-LGBTQ death threats​

By
Jesse O’Neill


August 3, 2022 7:59pm
Updated













A Long Island man was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 months in prison for mailing dozens of threats to “kill, shoot, and bomb” gay rights advocates and organizations across the region.
Robert Fehring, 74, of Bayport, pleaded guilty in February to sending 60 letters targeting the LGBTQ community over a span of eight years, federal prosecutors said.
Fehring pledged to terrorize Manhattan’s 2021 Pride parade, a Pride event in Huntington, and an LGBTQ-themed night at a Long Beach club, the feds said
The hatemonger claimed he would make the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting “look like a cakewalk,” according to officials.
A letter to Manhattan’s landmark Stonewall Inn read “we will blow up/burn your establishments down. We will shoot those who frequent your dens of [expletives].”

00:01 00:53
Another missive to a Brooklyn black-owned barbershop serving the gay community said “your shop is the perfect place for a bombing … or beating the scum that frequents your den of [expletive] into a bloody pool of steaming flesh,” according to prosecutors.

Long Island man Robert Fehring was sentenced to 30 months in prison for mailing threats to LGBTQ organizations and advocates.WNBC Fehring pleaded guilty to sending 60 threatening letters over eight years.Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
The hateful memo was singed “People Who Hate Gays … and In Particular [n-word] Gays,” officials said.


In 2018, Fehring told Fire Island ferry operators that they should “screen everyone coming on board with a metal detector” and that “a thorough search of your boats would be in order,” a Department of Justice press release said.


The FBI and the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force found a cache of weapons and ammunition at Fehring’s home, as well as 20 stolen Pride flags, reconnaissance-style photographs of the Huntington event and “a stamped envelope addressed to an LGBTQ+ affiliated attorney containing the remains of a dead bird,” according to prosecutors.

One letter to the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan threatened to blow up the building.Corbis via Getty Images
“There is no room for hate in the Eastern District of New York. Today’s sentence makes clear that threats to kill and commit acts of violence against the LGBTQ+ community will be met with significant punishment,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace.


“We will use the full power of our office to bring to justice those who threaten to kill or hurt people because of who they are, and to ensure everyone in our district is able to live authentically, safely and in peace.”