Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. today announced the sentencing of CHRISTOPHER BROWN, 23, to 10 years in state prison for possessing a firearm as part of a planned terror attack on the New York Jewish community in 2022. On September 18, 2024, BROWN pleaded guilty in a New York State Supreme Court to one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree as a Crime of Terrorism. The case against BROWN’S co-defendant MATTHEW MAHRER remains open and pending. [1]
“Today Christopher Brown was sentenced to a significant prison term for arming himself with an illegal firearm as part of his plan to commit an act of terror targeting Manhattan’s Jewish community,” said District Attorney Bragg. “I know that the Jewish community in Manhattan is continuing to face rising antisemitism and violent threats, and I want everyone to know that we are using every tool possible in coordination with our law enforcement partners to keep them safe.”
According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, BROWN used social media to express support for Nazi ideology and accelerationism, a form of racially and ethnically motivated extremism. In one instance, BROWN discussed getting tattoos of Nazi insignia, including a swastika on his heart. He also expressed support for and a desire to emulate Brenton Tarrant, who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.
As admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, between November 12, 2022, and November 18, 2022, BROWN published several threatening Twitter posts under his username @VrilGod, including “God wants me to shoot up a synagogue and die,” “Gonna ask a Priest if I should become a husband or shoot up a synagogue and die,” and ‘This time I’m really gonna do it.”
In furtherance of this plot, BROWN paid MAHRER $650 to obtain a loaded firearm in Pennsylvania.
BROWN was arrested at Penn Station on November 18, 2022. MTA police recovered a knife, a Swastika armband and a ski mask from BROWN’s backpack.
Assistant D.A.s Edward Burns (Senior Investigative Counsel) and Bonnie Seok (Rackets Bureau) handled the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A. David Stuart (Chief of the Counterterrorism Unit), Judy Salwen (Principal Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau), Jodie Kane (Chief of the Rackets Bureau and Chief of the Investigation Division). The prosecution was initiated in partnership with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau. In addition, Ryan Rittenberg (Director of Intelligence and Analysis for Counterterrorism), Tal Porat (Senior Counterterrorism Unit Analyst), Trial Preparation Assistant Elena Christenfeld, Catherine Schreck (former Senior Counterterrorism Unit Analyst), Christine McNeil (former Counterterrorism Unit Analyst), former Trial Preparation Assistant Tyler Lopez, Steven Moran (High Technology Analyst Unit Director), and Douglas Daus (Supervising Computer Forensic Analyst) provided valuable assistance with the case.
D.A. Bragg thanked Detective Richard Schneider and Lieutenant David Cuce of the NYPD Intelligence Bureau; Officers Ryan Fackner and Connor Calasurdo of the MTA Police; Detective Jeronnie Glanville of the Joint Terrorism Task Force; and Special Agent Nathan Rudnick of the FBI.
Defendant Information:
CHRISTOPHER BROWN
Aquebogue, NY
Convicted:
- Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree as a Crime of Terrorism, a class B felony, one count
Sentenced:
- 10 years in state prison
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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.