Man Arrested For Threatening ‘Violence And Death’ At Harvard’s Black Student Commencement
An Arizona man has been arrested and faces federal charges for allegedly threatening to kill Black students graduating from Harvard University in 2017.
Nicholas Zuckerman, 24, allegedly made the racist and threatening comments on Harvard's Instagram page. Zuckerman allegedly threatened to attack during Harvard’s 2017 “Black Commencement,” an event started by the graduating class to celebrate Black students, reported Mass Live.
According to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office, Zuckerman threatened to bomb the school to end their pro-black agenda."
"If the blacks only ceremony happens, then I encourage violence and death at it. I'm thinking two automatics with extendo clips. Just so no n****r gets away," Zuckerman allegedly wrote.
Zuckerman’s alleged threats came in May 2017 around the time the Daily Wire, a right-wing blog, falsely reported that Harvard University was planning to "segregate graduation ceremonies based on race." The Black Commencement ceremony was student-organized event that was approved by the university. It did not replace the main commencement ceremony in any way.
In addition to threatening to shoot students at the Black Commencement, Zuckerman allegedly made multiple threats to bomb the university by commenting #bombharvard on multiple social media posts, the office U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement.
"A concerned citizen who saw the posts reported them to the Harvard University Police who ultimately referred the case to federal authorities," Lelling's office said in a statement.
Zuckerman was arrested on Saturday and will be charged with two counts of transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a threat to injure the person of another, Lelling’s statement said.
That charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.