Teen threatened on Snapchat to rape and kill African Americans in Mississippi, feds say
An 18-year-old Mississippi man faces federal charges after he’s accused of posting a series of racist, violent threats on social media app Snapchat.
Christian Bunyard of Lauderdale County was indicted Tuesday on two counts of making threats in interstate commerce and a count of making an interstate transmission of an extortionate communication, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.
In a federal indictment, prosecutors say Bunyard used Snapchat to threaten to rape and kill African American residents in Oxford, Mississippi. He posted on July 12 that he and some friends planned on “rioting” in the town and would “go to n-----s homes and then beat and kill men and children, and rape the women and little girls,” the criminal indictment alleges.
“Eventually they will all be killed for being Black,” Bunyard reportedly wrote.
Federal authorities said the young man also threatened a school shooting and said he would rape a fellow app user if she refused to send naked photos of herself, authorities said.
The case was investigated by the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.
Bunyard will head to trial Dec. 17, and his case will be heard before U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate, officials said.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Teen threatened on Snapchat to rape and kill African Americans in Mississippi, feds say."