Third 4chan user arrested for making online threats against Sheriff Chitwood.

Written by Kristen Schmutz

Belden Communications News

Another person who posted an online death threat against Sheriff Mike Chitwood is in police custody, this time in Connecticut. Cristhian Zapata, 23, was taken into custody in Ansonia and is awaiting extradition to Volusia County, Florida.

According to a release, Zapata posted on 4Chan on April 7, “I WILL KILL CHITWOOD, MARK MY WORDS”. The Central Florida Intelligence Exchange flagged the post for further investigation.

The investigation led to Zapata’s sister’s apartment in Ansonia, where he had been living with her fiancé and child at the time of the post. The sister informed the police that her brother was always on his computer, often participating in extremist chat rooms and discussing “conspiracy theories and white supremacist ideology”. She also revealed that he was fascinated with Adolf Hitler.

Zapata and his sister’s family recently moved to Zapata’s mother’s home in Shelton, Connecticut. Upon police contact with Zapata, he admitted to posting the threat to kill Sheriff Chitwood, claiming he heard about recent events in Florida, including other online threats against the sheriff. Zapata expressed surprise over the other arrests, being he believes in the First Amendment, and identified himself as a nationalist.

The Shelton Police Department arrested Zapata on Wednesday evening on a felony warrant for making a written threat to kill, which carries a $100,000 bond.

This is the third arrest in connection to online death threats made against Sheriff Chitwood. Richard Golden of South Brunswick, New Jersey, and Tyler Meyer of San Diego, California, were similarly described as young men with limited social activity who participated in extremist, neo-Nazi, or white supremacist forums on the Internet. The threat came after Sheriff Chitwood’s response to extremist activity, hate propaganda campaigns, and harassment of Jewish people and others in Volusia County and Central Florida.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has expressed gratitude to the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange and all the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation for their hard work and dedication.