A 19-year-old Chicago man was charged on Monday with threatening to attack an abortion clinic in a post he allegedly made on a meme-sharing website.
Prosecutors allege that Farhan Sheikh threatened to “slaughter and murder” doctors, patients or visitors near an abortion clinic in the Illinois city located about four miles from his home. Sheikh allegedly made the threat in an Aug. 13 post on social media platform iFunny, which allows users to upload memes, GIFs and statements, according to an affidavit unsealed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday.
“I am done with my state and [their] bulls— abortion laws and allowing [innocent] kids to be slaughtered for the so called ‘womans right’ bulls—,” Sheikh allegedly wrote in one of the posts. “Ive seen nothing but whores go out of the way to get an abortion, but no more. I will not tolerate this anymore. Im DONE.”{mosads}
Sheikh allegedly wrote that he would “proceed to slaughter and murder any doctor, patient, or visitor i see in the area and I will not back down. consider this a warning for everyone visiting…”
In a later post, Sheikh allegedly addressed FBI agents, writing that “I post what I mean, and i WILL carry out what I post,” according to the complaint.
Sheikh was arrested on Friday and was charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. He appeared in court Monday and will remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Tuesday afternoon, the DOJ wrote in a release.
If convicted, Sheikh could face up to five years in prison, according to the DOJ.
FBI agents learned about the posts on the same day that 18-year-old Justin Olsen from Ohio was charged by federal prosecutors with threatening law enforcement after an investigation showed he allegedly expressed support online for mass shootings and attacks on Planned Parenthood.
Sheikh allegedly wrote in other posts that Olsen was arrested for “no reason except surpressing us and our freedoms.”
Prosecutors allege that Olsen lived in a house with 25 firearms and 10,000 rounds of ammunition.