North Carolina Man Arrested for Mailing Antisemitic Death Threats

Federal authorities arrested a North Carolina man accused of mailing graphic antisemitic death threats to Jewish organizations and leaders across Florida and Washington, D.C., according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

Brian Charles was taken into custody and charged with mailing threatening communications, according to federal prosecutors. Investigators allege that Charles mailed the threatening letters from Charlotte, North Carolina, during June and July, targeting prominent Jewish groups including the American Jewish Committee and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The FBI identified Charles through a latent fingerprint discovered on a letter sent to the AJC Palm Beach office, according to court documents. Several envelopes also bore his name and a Charlotte return address. Forensic examiners matched a fingerprint belonging to Charles to the AJC letter, while comparisons involving other letters remained pending, the complaint states.

Targeted Jewish Institutions and Officials

The criminal complaint details a widespread mailing campaign targeting multiple high-profile recipients. The Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach received a letter addressed to two members of its board of directors. Meanwhile, an AIPAC executive received letters at both a former home address in Palm Beach County and at the organization’s Washington, D.C., office.

Investigators also reported that a separate letter was mailed to two U.S. Secret Service protectees at an address in Jupiter, Florida. The handwritten letters contained explicit threats, including statements such as, I am going to destroy many Jews and Many shall die by my wrath, according to the federal complaint.

Vlad Khaykin, head of global advocacy at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, described the allegations as chilling. Multiple Jewish institutions and individuals, including a Holocaust memorial, were sent letters threatening death and collective punishment against Jews, Khaykin said in statements reported by JNS. Such threats are intended not merely to offend, but to terrorize: to make Jewish Americans afraid to open their mail, enter their institutions or live openly as Jews.

Prior Convictions and Federal Sentencing

Court records show that Charles has a criminal history involving similar federal offenses. He previously pleaded guilty in 2018 to five counts of mailing threatening communications in a case prosecuted in New Mexico. In that prior case, he was sentenced to 542 days in prison followed by three years of supervised release, which court documents state he violated multiple times.

The latest arrest arrives amid a documented surge in anti-Jewish incidents nationwide. FBI hate-crime data from 2024 showed that Jewish individuals were targeted in 69% of reported religiously motivated hate crimes, recording 1,938 anti-Jewish incidents that year—the highest total since the bureau began tracking the metric in 1991.

Antisemitism is not simply a prejudice remembered from history, Khaykin told JNS, characterizing the environment as an urgent American reality that forces families, students, and worshippers to prioritize security before community participation.