A 22-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana has been charged federally with transmitting threats in interstate commerce after telling people on Discord that he planned to kill Jews at a synagogue, according to court documents released Monday.

Jakob Marcoulier was arrested April 23 and faces up to five years in federal prison on the charge brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana.

The FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received an online tip in February from a concerned citizen who reported a Discord user named “el.bostino” making threats toward synagogues and Jewish people. FBI agents secured recorded audio in which Marcoulier, later identified through investigation, detailed a violent plan.

“After this deployment if the Jews still have reign over our government, I am going to walk into a synagogue with my AK, with a 75-round drum mag, and all of my extra mags, with my level four plates, and my haka helmet that’s three plus, and I am going to kill every single Jew I know inside of that synagogue,” Marcoulier stated in the Discord recording, according to court documents. “And that’s my goal in life.”

In subsequent messages, Marcoulier emphasized the seriousness of his threats, telling other users “you guys will never do anything about but I will. I just have to finish this, I have to go back overseas and do what I have to do. And then you’ll see me in the news. I promise you,” the documents said. He also wrote that he would “kill these [expletives] in order to make sure the white youth is [expletive] secured.”

The FBI’s tip line received the initial report after a citizen became aware of the threats. Following that report, FBI Special Agents from the Birmingham and New Orleans field offices, working alongside the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, moved to identify and arrest Marcoulier.

“Threats against synagogues and Jewish Americans are threats to the religious freedom promised to every single one of us, and this Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to protecting those freedoms,” United States Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana said in a statement. “This case demonstrates the FBI’s vigilance and swift action in identifying and taking action against those who perpetrate these threats, and our Office looks forward to seeing justice done in this case.”

Jonathan Tapp, special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, called the case an example of public-law enforcement partnership.

“The FBI is focused on preventing violent hate crime attacks and disrupting violent criminal plots, before they occur,” Tapp said. “Once the concerned citizen reached out to 1-800-CALL-FBI to report this situation, FBI Special Agents in Birmingham and New Orleans, and our partners in the U.S. Army, acted swiftly in this case. This is a perfect example of how the public is law enforcement’s greatest partner.”

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