Breaking News: Craig Jungwirth was apprehended late Wednesday afternoon outside of Orlando and is being held in custody by the Orlando Police Department. This article will be updated as further information becomes available.
FORT LAUDERDALE—A gay man associated with conning victims out of money for BearBeach Weekend last March has made a series of alarming threats to massacre gay men in Wilton Manors over the Labor Day weekend. Craig Jungwirth exchanged a series of Facebook posts with David Herbert, a Fort Lauderdale resident.
Jungwirth, whose Facebook page was using a photo of boxer Alex Ramos, wrote:
My events are selling out cause you faggots are total patsies. None of you deserve to live. If you losers thought the Pulse nightclub shooting was bad, wait till you see what I’m planning for Labor Day.
When Herbert threaten to call the police to report Jungwirth’s threat, he reposted:
You can’t never catch a genius from MIT and since you faggots aren’t dying from AIDS anymore, I have a better solution to exterminate you losers.
Herbert responded by telling jungwirth to “get some help.”
I’m gonna be killing you fags faster than the cops kill n**gers. It’s time to clean up Wilton Manors from all you AIDS infested losers.
Jennifer Bickhardt, Public Information Officer for the Wilton Manors Police Department, responded to a request for comment from the Florida Agenda.
The Wilton Manors Police Department (WMPD) takes all matters seriously especially when someone threatens the lives of the Wilton Manors Community to include our residents, business owners/employees, visitors, and the surrounding communities. The Wilton Manors Police Department is aware of this serious matter and our department is currently conducting an on-going investigation on this matter and the individual(s) involved. Due to the on-going investigation we are unable to provide any details about the investigation and what current information our department has learned about this matter and the individual(s) involved at this time.
Please know that our Police Officers and Detectives are thoroughly investigating this serious matter and we ask the community to continue to contact local law enforcement officials should they hear or see any other additional posts on Social Media/new threats made by these individual(s) or anyone else.
For all EMERGENCY type calls please Dial 9-1-1 and for all NON-EMERGENCY / REGIONAL DISPATCH type calls please call (954) 764-HELP (4357).
Jungwirth has a history of conflicts with previous employers, having had restraining orders taken out to prevent him for stalking in prior office settings. More recently, he has taken to using email and Facebook as a form of retaliation against those who would criticize him in any fashion.
During the winter months, Jungwirth barely escaped criminal prosecution for fraud over his use of web pages advertising the BeachBear Weekend, to which he claimed ownership, and to which he was actively selling VIP passes as well as hotel packages at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel. Unknown to those responding to his BeachBear Weekend offers was the fact that none of the events described or hotel accommodations were authentic.
After being evicted from his apartment near the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Jungwirth disappeared from the area, with some reports of his return to Orlando where he had previously been employed. His latest reference to Wilton Manors suggests that he may have returned to South Florida, though there have been no known spottings of the man.
In what may be the latest irony in the Jungwirth saga, however, is the legal opinion that as horrible as they are, his latest spate of threats are not against the law. Rather, they are protected under the Freedom of Speech.
In Elonis v. the United States, the Supreme Court decided last year that a man, Anthony Elonis, who made odious threats to kill his wife, was innocent of breaking the law.
“Federal criminal liability generally does not turn solely on the results of an act without considering the defendant’s mental state,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, explaining that the court overturned the case because the government never proved that Elonis had threatening intent.
Whether Jungwirth’s intent to massacre gays in Wilton Manors is authentic remains to be seen. The answer lies on the other side of Labor Day weekend.
