Federal prosecutors announced Monday that a former Marine from New Jersey has been arrested on charges of threatening to kill a white man and make a mass shooting threat.
Joshua Cobb, 23, of Trenton, wrote on social media in December 2022, before joining the Marine Corps last year. “I want to cause chaos in the white community” and “I want to wipe out the white community,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. the District of New Jersey said in a statement.
He also said in a post on December 17, 2022, that he wanted to carry out a mass shooting in 2023, and that he “officially began planning the attack today,” authorities said. He also claimed that he had obtained two of the four guns he was planning to use.
A federal public defender listed as representing Cobb did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
According to the criminal complaint, Cobb joined the Marine Corps and attended basic training in South Carolina from June to October of last year. He was assigned to the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., in February and was discharged around May 10, according to the complaint.
Cobb identified himself as black in online posts under the account “1dayUsuffer,” an FBI special agent wrote in an affidavit that is part of the complaint.
He addressed what he called the struggles of America’s youth, saying, “They have heaped so many obstacles against us that no matter how hard we try, we can’t overcome them. Especially black people like me. “People from poor backgrounds” wanted to cause bloodshed, an FBI agent said in an affidavit.
According to an FBI affidavit, Cobb, who was interviewed by the FBI at a Marine Corps base in California, admitted that the social media accounts were his and told investigators he had homicidal thoughts. He said he is continuing.
Mr. Cobb sometimes fantasizes about robbing gyms and grocery stores frequented by people he calls “white rich people,” adding that wealthy people “don’t know what it’s like to be in a bad situation.” No,” he said. he claims in the affidavit. He is quoted as saying, “So my purpose was to cause them pain.”
No attack was ever carried out. He is charged with communicating threats in interstate and foreign commerce, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.
The Marine Corps did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on the nature of the discharge Monday evening, and court documents do not detail the reason.
Cobb waived his preliminary hearing Monday and was ordered held until a bail hearing Friday, according to federal court records.
