Man Who Considered Menlo Park Mall Attack Admits Crimes: FBI

EDISON, NJ — A Camden County man who considered staging a machete attack at Menlo Park mall has admitted to conspiring to attack minority-owned businesses, federal officials announced on Friday.

Richard Tobin, 19, of Brooklawn, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy against rights, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.

He admitted to conspiring with members of “The Base” white supremacist group to threaten and intimidate African Americans and Jewish Americans by vandalizing minority-owned properties throughout the country in September 2019, according to authorities.

During the investigation, Tobin told FBI officials that during a trip to Menlo Park Mall in Edison, the presence of African-American shoppers caused him to become "enraged," according to an affidavit of probable cause.

He kept a machete in his car, and thought about using it to "let loose" on other the other shoppers with it. He never acted on that impulse, but told investigators "he would act on his feelings if he was more frequently surrounded by the things that triggered him," such as ethic, religious, or racial minorities.

If Tobin believed that he was dying, or that "failure was imminent," he would also be more likely to "go out in a blaze of glory," presumably through violence, investigators said. Read more here: Man Considered Staging Machete Attack At Menlo Park Mall: Feds

He did admit that from Sept. 15 to Sept. 23, 2019, he communicated online with other members of the white supremacist group, directing them to destroy and vandalize properties affiliated with African Americans and Jewish Americans, according to authorities.

Tobin dubbed the planned attacks “Kristallnacht,” or “Night of Broken Glass,” after an attack in Germany on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, in which Nazis murdered Jewish people and burned and destroyed Jewish homes, synagogues, stores and schools, authorities said.

He implored members of The Base to post propaganda flyers and to break windows and slash tires belonging to African Americans and Jewish Americans, authorities said.

On Sept. 21, 2019, members of "The Base" vandalized synagogues in Racine, Wisconsin, and Hancock, Michigan, by spray-painting them with hate symbols, according to authorities.

Tobin previously admitted to directing fellow group members to "tag the sh--" out of the synagogues with spray-painted hate symbols.

Many of Tobin's feelings were "triggered by the state of the country," he previously told investigators. Just standing in Times Square was enough to set off his emotions, court records show.

Yousef Omar Barasneh, another conspirator in the scheme, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights in federal court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, for his role in vandalizing the synagogue in Racine, Wisconsin.

“Americans should never have to fear racist, antisemitic or any other form of bias-motivated violence,” Honig said. “This defendant encouraged hateful acts of violence against individuals and their houses of worship, based solely on their religion or the color of their skin. Together with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, this Office will continue to work every day to identify individuals like him and bring them swiftly to justice.”

Tobin faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater. Sentencing is scheduled for June 28.

(This story was originally reported by Anthony Bellano, Patch Staff)