PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said a west Boca Raton man made antisemitic threats on social media to carry out a mass shooting at a synagogue.
Paul Morris, 26, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail at approximately 11:30 p.m. Friday on a charge of making written threats to commit a mass shooting or threat of terrorism.
According to Morris' arrest report, a Palm Beach County deputy responded to the suspect's home on Vineyard Court after one of Morris' friends called 911 and said Morris had posted threatening messages on Instagram and Discord.
When the deputy arrived, he spoke to another man, Morris' roommate, who also said he was "made aware of threatening posts" by Morris.
That roommate then showed the deputy the posts, all of which were antisemitic in nature, the sheriff's office said. In at least one post, Morris threatened to carry out a mass shooting at a synagogue, without naming a particular one.
According to Morris' arrest report, the roommate said "he has known Morris to suffer from mental health issues; however, he was concerned as he has never made any statements to commit violence like this before."
The deputy then spoke to Morris, who admitted to making the threatening posts, the report said.
Morris said he suffers from "Major Depression" and "his intentions in his posts were not to commit an act of violence; however, was to make his friends to leave him alone about his political opinions. Morris admitted he was aware his written messages could have been perceived as a threat to whomever may have read them," the report stated.
The director of security for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County said the person who saw the threats online and reported it deserves a lot of credit.
"You see many times when people are being interviewed after an event, somebody comes forward and says, 'You know, there was something wrong, and I just didn't want to report it,'" Carson Nightwine, the security chief, said.
WPTV showed Nightwine the police report that listed Morris' alleged posts.
"We can't just let this rhetoric inspire people to commit violence," Nightwine said. "Very frightening."
The alleged threats come at a time when synagogues and Jewish schools now have extra security.
"Just to make a threat to harm the Jewish community, it's abhorrent," Nightwine said.
He added that whether a mass shooting was foiled, or an individual receives the help he needs, the person who reported it, did a lot of good.
In court Saturday, a judge set Morris' bond at $25,000 and ordered him to have no access to the Internet and no electronic devices. As of Monday, Morris is still in the Palm Beach County Jail.
Court records show the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has filed a risk protection order against Morris. However, the specific details of that order are not available yet.
