A Utah man has been arrested and now faces charges in Washington’s federal court for making a series of threatening phone calls to a Palestinian advocacy organization.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Washington announced on Monday that it had charged Kevin Brent Buchanan, 62, of Tooele, Utah, with making interstate threats against an unspecified Palestinian advocacy organization. According to a criminal complaint submitted on Nov. 14 and unsealed this week, Mr. Buchanan left five voicemail messages with the Palestinian advocacy organization between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, in which he described the group as “the enemy” and it’s members as “dead people walking.”
The series of threatening calls were allegedly made on a TracPhone prepaid, no-contract mobile device. TracPhone helped investigators track the purchase of the device to a Walmart location in Tooele. That Walmart location subsequently revealed the device was purchased with an American Express card, and American Express subsequently identified Mr. Buchanan as the owner of the card account.
Court records indicate Mr. Buchanan was arrested in Tooele on Friday, Nov. 17.
In his first call to the Palestinian advocacy group, Mr. Buchanan allegedly told the group, “Don’t think we’re not watching you; we know who you are, who your families are.” He allegedly went on to tell the group that it’s members were being photographed and “cataloged” and that people would eventually come to identify their families and where members of the Palestinian advocacy group live.
“You’re gonna be tracked. You’re [expletive] D.M.W – that means dead man or woman walking. You are the enemy. You are a threat to the national security of the United States, and you are [expletive] going to get what’s coming to you very, very, very soon, you pieces of Palestinian [expletive],” Mr. Buchanan allegedly said. “Come to middle America and try to do what you’re doing. You pieces of sacks of [expletive]. Dead person walking. That’s all you are, pieces of [expletive]. You’re gonna die.”
Mr. Buchanan allegedly made two more calls on Nov. 1, during which he shared similar threatening comments. During one of those Nov. 1 calls, he is said to have described the Palestinian advocacy organization as “a threat to the national security of the United States.” During the call, Mr. Buchanan also appeared to invoke the Hells Angels, an international motorcycle club described by the DOJ as a criminal enterprise.
“Guess what? The Hells Angels have silently declared war on you. So you just go ahead and parade around, do what you want, but you’re marked,” Mr. Buchanan allegedly said in one of the Nov. 1 voicemail messages. “You’re dead people walking. You’re all gonna [expletive] die because you’re enemies of the United States. . . . You are [expletive] traitors and you’re gonna die. And I’m gonna love it.”
It is unclear from the charging documents if Mr. Buchanan has any connection with the Hells Angels.
Mr. Buchanan allegedly made two more phone calls to the group on Nov. 2, in which he threatened to burn the Koran, challenged the Palestinian group to call him back, and accused the group of being afraid to answer his calls.
According to the charging documents, the group Mr. Buchanan allegedly threatened was one of several organizations that planned to participate in public demonstrations for Palestinian rights in Washington on Nov. 4. Dozens of groups organized and endorsed a “Free Palestine” event in Washington’s Freedom Plaza on Nov. 4, though charging documents do not explicitly state whether this was the event in question.
Palestinian advocacy groups have held numerous political rallies throughout the United States amid the ongoing battle between Israeli military forces and Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. This ongoing conflict began after Hamas fighters breached the Israel-Gaza barrier and proceeded to kill hundreds of people in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israeli forces initially responded to the Hamas attacks by restricting the flow of water and electricity into the Gaza Strip and conducting airstrikes throughout the confined territory. In recent days, Israeli forces have also carried out ground operations within the Gaza Strip.
Several Palestinian advocacy groups have raised alarm about Palestinian civilians being killed in the ongoing fighting and have called for a ceasefire.
There have been numerous threats and violent incidents involving both Jewish and Muslim groups and individuals in the weeks since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.
If convicted, Mr. Buchanan faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
NTD News reached out to an attorney representing Mr. Buchanan for comment but did not receive a response by press time.