Tyler Myer (Images courtesy of Volusia County Sheriff’s Office)
Yet another racist 4chan poster who lives with his mother has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill an anti-Nazi sheriff.
Tyler Myer, a 30-year-old San Diego man, was arrested this weekend and charged with making a written threat to kill or injure Volusia County, Florida, Sheriff Mike Chitwood. The threat allegedly written by Myer was posted on the /pol/ board of 4chan, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office announcement of the arrest.
“It’s too bad Mike Chitwood isn’t safe now that I’m planning to kill him. I’m going to shoot Mike Chitwood,” read the post. “I’m going to kill him by shooting him to death.”
The /pol/ board is home to an irony-poisoned, violent, racist community that’s been connected to mass killings and neo-Nazi organizing. One of the community’s current obsessions is Chitwood, who became the subject of numerous threats from online neo-Nazis after his impassioned stand against a rash of neo-Nazi activity in his area went viral online.
VICE News located the threatening message. The threat against Chitwood was written on March 15 in response to the arrest of a 4chan user in New Jersey (who also lived with his mom) for threatening Chitwood. Alongside the message was an image of a My Little Pony character dressed as a Nazi and pointing a gun.
The FBI says they flagged the threat and traced its origins which led them straight to Myer— or at least straight to Myer’s mother’s home, where he lives. The Volusia Sheriff’s Office sayy Myer admitted to writing the post upon being confronted with police. Authorities seized multiple firearms, ammunition, and electronics from his home.
Earlier in March, Richard Golden, a 38-year-old New Jersey man, was also arrested from his mother’s home for threatening to kill Chitwood. In body cam footage, Golden’s mother can be heard apologizing to police because her son’s room smelled “like a fucking gym locker.” In a press conference announcing Golden’s arrest, Chitwood had some choice words for the far-right troll.
“His postings were anonymous. Everything is anonymous. They don’t want to be identified,” said Chitwood before holding up a picture of Golden. “I guess if I looked like this, I wouldn’t want to be identified either. Being 38 years old and living in my mother’s back bedroom with no job.“
A recent thread on /pol/ was simply titled “STOP TELLING CHITWOOD YOULL KILL HIM” and featured an image of the post allegedly written by Myers. Some neo-Nazis on the site wrote they think this is a conspiracy and accused both Myer and Golden of being Jewish.
Police released a mugshot of Myer and, much like Golden, he has long unkempt hair and a beard. Golden has since been extradited to Florida, and Myer is expected to follow soon. Both are being held on a $100,000 bond.
“Anyone noticing a trend with these losers?” wrote Chitwood on Twitter. “Other than being brainwashed by hate.”
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Mack Lamoureux