Breaking: Armed manifesto writer captured: ABC News

The man who sent a 161-page manifesto to the White House promising violence and then broke into a gun store to arm himself has been captured, according to ABC News. Wisconsin police and federal investigators worried that Joseph Jakubowski would launch attacks on schools, churches, or government buildings if not stopped in time:

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The Wisconsin fugitive accused of robbing a Wisconsin gun shop and sending a manifesto to President Donald Trump is in custody after an over weeklong manhunt, a federal law enforcement source told ABC News.

Joseph Jakubowski, who was considered “armed and dangerous,” allegedly stole 18 firearms from a gun store near Janesville, Wisconsin, on April 4 and had been on the run ever since.

Jakubowski made headlines by posting his intentions with social-media video before the gun-story theft and his disappearance. Law enforcement put out a nationwide APB for the suspect, but he may never have left Wisconsin. Beloit police announced his capture on Twitter a few minutes ago:

The clock was definitely ticking on this human time bomb. Jakubowski’s letter threatened to use Easter as a platform for his anti-religious zealotry:

Authorities in Wisconsin were investigating a written threat against churches by an individual purporting to be Joseph Jakubowski, who police have been searching for since April 4.

The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday they were actively investigating the threat that was directed at churches in the Sussex area, according to Fox 6 Milwaukee.

The letter threatened violence on Easter Sunday.

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We’ll have more updates as details emerge.

Update: Living off the land isn’t exactly a great way to remain under the radar when the land belongs to a farmer in planting season:

Thursday night a suspicious person matching Jakubowski’s description was reported on a farmer’s property near Readstown, sheriff’s office said. The person who made the report to authorities said the individual was camping “and refused to leave when he had been asked to do so,” the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities established a perimeter and shortly before 6 a.m. today, officers made contact with the suspicious person, identified as Jakubowski, and he was taken into custody without incident, the sheriff’s office said.

Kudos to the law-enforcement professionals who took Jakubowski into custody without a fight. Given his manifesto and intentions, that’s an ironic end to Jakubowski’s “revolution,” though.

Now the question will be what charges he will face and how long prosecutors can keep him behind bars. The burglary of the gun store should be worth a few years, but just the publication of the manifesto violates 947.019 of Wisconsin law on “terrorist threats.” That’s a Class I felony, but only carries a 42-month sentence. I suspect that the feds will want to take the lead on Jakubowski’s prosecution for mailing the threat, which should get him a 10-year sentence, if no other charges are added to the case.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 22, 2024
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