Neo-Nazi accused of stockpiling weapons, plotting attack at Michigan synagogue

A Michigan man who spouted antisemitic and Neo-Nazi ideals online was busted by federal agents for allegedly stockpiling weapons in preparation for a mass shooting at an East Lansing synagogue.

Seann Pietila, 19, of Pickford, was arrested on Friday after agents raided his home and discovered several weapons, a Nazi flag, a camouflage ghillie suit, gas masks, and a military sniper manual, according to the criminal complaint filed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.

A search of his phone also yielded a note highlighting a synagogue in East Lansing, along with a date and a list of equipment, including homemade bombs.

The FBI said it had received a report Tuesday about threatening messages Pieltila shared online, including praises for previous mass shooters and neo-Nazis.  

Several of the messages highlighted in the complaint involve Pietila and another Instagram user making antisemitic slurs, touting his allegedly massive gun collection, and making antisemitic statements.

The suspect also showed admiration for the 2019 Christchurch shooting, where 51 people were killed in two New Zealand mosques, with the date highlighted in Pietila’s phone matching the fourth anniversary of the massacre.

One message shows the Instagram user identified as Pietila angry about an apparent breakup, as he writes on June 01, “I’m done at this point. F–k this world and everything in it. I’m gonna start making plans soon, just gotta buy a few more things.”

A few minutes later, he wrote: “This world just sucks a–. I won’t be taken alive I’ll make sure of that. Remember ‘Heil Hitler!’ boom red mist. Gotta make it unique I guess. Maybe. I just need a camera for streaming and some more magazines. Don’t wanna run out of mags and have to reload one.”

During the search at his house, police found several magazines, a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol, firearms accessories and multiple knives.

Pietila was ultimately charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another.

US Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement: “Antisemitic threats and violence against our Jewish communities — or any other group for that matter — will not be tolerated in the Western District of Michigan.”

Brittany Stob, the suspect’s mother, told ABC News on Saturday that her son was still in jail awaiting a detention hearing scheduled for this week.

The distraught mom also claimed that while her son did express antisemitic views, he was not violent nor planning a massacre.

“He said some stuff online that he shouldn’t have,” Stob said. “He’s a good kid. He would never hurt anybody.”

Stob also maintains that the guns and tactical gear found at their home belonged to her and her husband, not Pietila.

She added that her son fell into antisemitic ideology when he was in isolation during the pandemic and that he lacked any mental health treatment he might have needed.

An attorney for Pietila was not immediately made available for comment.