Feds charge Indy-area man with threatening to shoot attendees of Boston rally

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis-area man faces federal charges in connection with an online threat to shoot white attendees of a rally in Boston last August.

Eric Radulovic, 32, was arrested Friday and expected to appear in federal court in Indianapolis. 

Radulovic is accused of posing as a member of the “alt-right” movement and threatening to shoot white people at a rally to get sympathy for the movement following the violent rally and counterprotest in Charlottesville.

Radulovic is accused of making the threat on a message board on 4chan discussing the Boston Free Speech Rally, which was planned for Aug. 19, 2017, about a week after the “Unite the Right” and counterprotest in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left protester 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead. 

Authorities say Radulovic was upset about Heyer’s Aug. 13 death, prompting him to post the message.

The initial post on 4chan about the Boston Free Speech Rally invited “[l]ibertarians, conservatives, traditionalists, classical liberals, Trump supporters or anyone else who enjoys their right to free speech,” according to the federal indictment release.

Authorities provided part of the message they say Radulovic wrote: 

“I’m going to bring a Remington 700 and start shooting Alt-right guys. We need sympathy after that landwhale got all the liberals teary eyed, so someone is going to have to make it look like the left is becoming more violent and radicalized. It’s a false flag for sure, but I’ll be aiming for the more tanned/dark haired muddied jeans in the crowd so real whites won’t have to worry.”

The indictment alleges that he posted the message on the board “for the purpose of issuing a threat and knowing that it would be interpreted as a threat.”

Radulovic is scheduled to appear in court in Boston on June 20.

If convicted, Radulovic would face a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.