DELAND, Fla. – Federal authorities arrested a 25-year-old DeLand man Friday, and they charged him with threatening to kill Jewish people.
Hanson Richard Larkin appeared Friday before a federal magistrate, who ordered him to be kept in jail.
According to his arrest report, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were contacted by police in Miami after a friend of Larkin's reported getting the threats of violence texted to them.
The friend said Larkin wanted to meet up, and he was using the text messages as an ultimatum to make it happen.
The text messages included:
"I bought a gun with my first paycheck. If I don't meet you, I will be forced to use it."
"I told you how much I hate Jews, right?"
"There's a chabad near me."
"Don't make me make a choice they'll regret."
"I want to smell your fear."
According to his arrest report, federal investigators confronted Larkin at his workplace in DeLand on Aug. 27.
That's when they said they detained him, and they held him for a psychological evaluation.
On Friday, agents officially arrested him.
Neighbors told News 6 the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and local police were at Larkin's house last week, and they didn't know why.
Jewish leaders in the DeLand area did not want to comment on the arrest, but they said they were concerned.
Larkin will appear in court again Tuesday to ask for bail
If convicted of federal threat charges, he could spend up to five years in prison.
