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A Hispanic woman in Miami received hundreds of Facebook messages from a Seattle manreferencing genocide, rape, and Hitler, and threatening to kill her and her family. After several months, the FBI arrested him.
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The woman, not identified in court documents, recognized the man, Eric Lin, as someone who’d frequented the restaurant she worked at. She went to Miami police in late July to tell them about the violent threats she received from two separate Facebook accounts. The Miami police then contacted the FBI.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for the two Facebook accounts, which gave them access to Lin’s sent DMs — and also revealed his plot to kidnap the woman. Agents then arrested him last week and charged him with making violent threats across state lines. He faces up to five years in prison.
The messages started on May 30, 2019, when the woman received a picture of a man wearing a red shirt, with a photo of Hitler superimposed on top. She recognized the photo because Lin had shown it to her before, in person.
Over the next several months, Lin also tried to put his violent fantasies into action. He contacted a man in Florida and offered him $25,000 to kidnap the woman, stuff her in a plastic bin, and drive her to Seattle, according to court documents. Lin also offered the man $10,000 to beat up the woman’s male co-worker, whom he claims offended him.
“You are worth less than a rabid dog,” Lin allegedly wrote to the woman on June 7. “Rabid Spics like you need to be put down. With Extreme Ruthlessness!”
She received four messages in total on that day. The FBI said she provided hard copies of the threats she’d received, totaling 150 pages.
“I will stop at nothing until you, your family, your friends, your entire WORTHLESS LATIN RACE IS RACIALLY EXTERMINATED,” Lin allegedly wrote on June 11.
“By the authority of ADOLF HITLER AND GOD I HEREBY DECLARE SPANISH AND ALL SPANISH SPEAKING PEOPLE ILLEGAL,” Lin allegedly wrote on July 9.
At least one message contained a reference to President Donald Trump.
“I thank God everyday that President Donald Trump is president and that he will launch a Racial War and Crusade to keep all the N—–s, Spics, and Muslims and any dangerous non-White or Ethnically or Culturally foreign group “in line,” Lin allegedly wrote on July 19.
Cover image: Nick Ansell/PA Wire URN:41898800 (Press Association via AP Images)
