GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A judge has ruled there is probable cause in the case of a Michigan man who was allegedly planning to commit a mass shooting at a synagogue in East Lansing.
19-year-old Seann Pietila is charged with interstate communications after allegedly telling another person online that he wanted to kill multiple members of the Jewish community—similar to the 2019 Christchurch shooting in New Zealand.
Pietila was arrested in Pickford last Friday.
On Thursday, he appeared in federal court. His hands and feet were bound, and he wore a Chippewa County Jail jumpsuit and was quiet throughout the proceedings.
A special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) testified they had received a report concerning a user on Instagram who was sharing violent, extremist messages.
Investigators were able to determine the user was Pietila by using his school records at East Lansing High School and his IP address.
Investigators say the messages on Instagram involved a conversation with a 16-year-old in New Zealand, and were anti-Semitic in nature.
The messages with that friend show a lonely Pietila, who was upset with the ending of an online relationship he had with a 15-year-old girl.
The two had casual conversations at length about the details of how Pietila would carry through with the shooting on March 15, 2024—the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch shooting. Pietela said he wouldn't be taken alive and even mentioned how he would livestream the shooting for others.
Once a warrant was executed at Pietila's home, the agent said the FBI found Nazi flags, military gear, a variety of knives and hatches, and three firearms that were not stored safely.
Parts of a video interview with the FBI were presented in court.
The defense argued that not all messages were included in the FBI's report, and that the full context was not shown. They claimed that Pietila gave investigators the password to his phone and that he never meant any intentional harm.
Magistrate Judge Sally Berens disagreed, stating that a threat had been clearly set.
Interstate communication is a class D felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
The probable cause hearing will resume at 2:30 p.m. The judge is expected to set a bond for Pietila.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
