Teen arrested over terrifying LGBTQ+ mass shooting threat against Florida university
Sean Michael Albert was arrested by FBI agents after he posted threatening messages against the LGBTQ+ community online.
A Florida man is facing several charges of threatening behaviour after threatening to shoot as many members of the LGBTQ+ community at a university as he could, a criminal complaint has revealed.
19-year-old Sean Michael Albert was reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) following a string of messages posted on a private server on social media platform Discord.
Albert reportedly posted a picture of an AR-15 on the platform, along with several threats to kill members of the LGBTQ+ community he found at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Among the messages was a post that read: “At 13:00 December 17 2022, 100 [expletive deleted] will die, cya there!”
Upon sending the messages, administrators working at Discord immediately forwarded Albert’s information to the FBI in a criminal complaint, including his internet protocol (IP) address and further data linked to his account.
Following an investigation in Winter Park, where Albert resides, FBI agents found a “history of violence and a pattern of concerning behaviour.”
According to his roommate, Albert had become more confrontational with members of the LGBTQ+ community during his time at FSU.
His behaviour ranged from posting controversial statements online, to confrontations with classmates and individuals outside of the university.
Investigating officers found and questioned Albert on Sunday (1 January) after he flew from Washington D.C to Orlando International Airport.
He reportedly admitted to posting the threats online, telling agents that he believed the posts to be “ironic” and “satirical.”
Upon further investigation, agents discovered further threats that Albert had made online, including physical threats against Black and Jewish people.
Many of these threats involved coded language targeted towards minorities, as well as more blatant threats, such as hoping for a genocide of minority groups.
“Albert was asked to explain his mindset when he posted the threat and whether he understood that posting that type of content is in violation of federal law,” an FBI document read.
“Albert responded that he did not believe his post was illegal.”
He further explained that he threatened to instigate a mass shooting at FSU specifically because he believed it would get “the most reaction from those in the Discord server.”
