Man accused of threatening LGBT in South Florida faces federal charges

Man faces federal charges for threats against LGBT in South Florida. (Pexels)

Man faces federal charges for threats against LGBT in South Florida. (Pexels)

A man charged with threatening Wilton Manors' LGBT community on Facebook is in federal custody in Seminole County, north of Orlando.

The FBI announced that Craig Allen Jungwirth, 50, of Orlando, Florida, is accused of making a threatening communication, a federal offense.

Last week, someone on a Facebook account linked to Jungwirth wrote a post threatening to “clean up Wilton Manors from all you AIDS-infested losers.”

Saying that members of the LGBT community in Wilton Manors, a Broward County city known for its gay activism, don't "deserve to live," the poster warned of a Labor Day plan that would rival the massacre at an Orlando nightclub in June, where a gunman killed 49 people and wounded many more.

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“If you losers thought the Pulse nightclub shooting was bad, wait till you see what I’m planning for Labor Day,” the post said.

Jungwirth, who the post was attributed to on Facebook, has had legal run-ins in the past. The Miami Herald detailed an incident where he was accused of defrauding participants during Beach Bear Weekend in Fort Lauderdale earlier this year. He was allegedly charging people for the event, which was free.

Jason Parsley, associate publisher of the South Florida Gay News, told the Herald that Jungwirth came to the publication's office and was “hostile” after it carried a story about the incident.

“At first, he did not reveal who he was. The conversation turned hostile,’’ he said. “My sales manager jumped in and said, ‘I think you have to leave.’ He had to say it a couple of times before he absorbed it and left.”

According to an FBI news release, Jungwirth’s first court appearance will be Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Orlando.