East Michigan News

U.S. District Attorney Matthew Schneider has a message for anyone thinking about violating another person's civil rights: "We're watching for these cases, and we're going to step in."

This comes after a 22-year-old man recently pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to charges associated with threatening to harm a woman who was just trying to go to church. Schneider, a federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Michigan, said the defendant in the case got into an argument with the woman, knew she was African American and knew she went to church on Wednesdays.

"So he sent her a threatening message over Facebook, which said, 'See you at church on Wednesday night with my AK to put you and your family down,'" Schneider told Chris Renwick, a producer for "The Frank Beckmann Show."

U.S. District Attorney Matthew Schneider | U.S. Dept. of Justice

Schneider said the message also included derogatory racial epithet. Although many people these days take to social media when they're upset, Schneider said this defendant crossed the line to a federal crime. It appears race played a role in the case as well, and they're treating it as a hate crime.

"We have a fundamental right in this country to go to church or mosque or synagogue of our choice, and that is a thing that is ingrained in our country," he told Renwick.

Schneider emphasized that the Justice Department is about more than just fighting crime; it's also about protecting people's civil liberties. This is something they plan to keep a lookout for as what's been described as a "contentious" general election gets underway, since it's also against federal law to threaten or intimidate someone in an attempt to interfere with their right to vote. 

"We need more help from the community. If the community is observing threats of violence or threats about people restricting their right to vote, we certainly want to hear about that in the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, your local police. We want to know," Schneider told Renwick.