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Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed off on prosecution of man for threats to Pinellas mosques

 
Published Feb. 10, 2016

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch — or at least her signature — made a cameo appearance this week in the federal court file of a Seminole man accused of threatening Pinellas County mosques in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Martin Alan Schnitzler, 43, is scheduled to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Tampa on Friday to obstructing religious freedom Nov. 13 by leaving voice mail death threats at two mosques, prompting one to cancel services and both to seek extra security.

It's written into federal code that the attorney general, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, must approve such prosecutions, certifying that they are "in the public interest" and "necessary to secure substantial justice."

The authorization from Lynch, filed Tuesday, is dated Dec. 7. At a Muslim Advocates Dinner on Dec. 3 in Arlington, Va., the attorney general expressed concerns about an anti-Muslim backlash, warning than Americans "cannot be ruled by fear."

In a signed plea agreement last month, Schnitzler admitted to calling himself a red-blooded American while threatening to kill children and old people as they practiced their religion. He later called his conduct "stupid and wrong," the record said.