Last year, a Twitter user threatened Muslim lawyer and now Virginia Senate candidate Qasim Rashid with the words “view your destiny” attached to a picture of a lynching.
Now, the man who went by “DaDUTCHMAN5” on the social media platform has been charged with issuing a threat via interstate commerce. The charge against him carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
In an indictment filed in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, the man is identified as Joseph Cecil Vandevere. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Court records do not list an attorney for Vandevere.
After receiving the tweet, Rashid wrote to Twitter in March 2018 with a screenshot of the message.
“Hey @Twitter this white supremacist @DaDUTCHMAN5 is threatening me with lynching b/c I am Muslim,” hesaid. “Please tell me this violates your terms & conditions?”
This week, Rashid said on Twitter “if extremists think threatening to kill me will slow me down — they’re both violent and ignorant.”
“My faith teaches me to respond to injustice (with) justice. We will march forward in service to all humanity,” he said. “And we’re just getting started.”
