Last month, on Halloween, a Florida man with a criminal history was arrested on suspicion of weapons violations after he was caught with several unregistered firearms and ammunition he couldn’t legally own. More disturbing than the weapons that were discovered in his home was a list that could potentially be of his Black and Jewish targets, according to prosecutors.
According to NBC News , 41-year-old John Lapinski was arrested last month in Margate, Florida, which is about 40 miles north of Miami, and is currently being held without bail under a U.S. Marshals Service hold on federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing an unregistered gun suppressor. On Tuesday, a factual proffer in support of keeping Lapinski in lockup was filed and included new details about what was discovered among his belongings at his and his sister’s home. Those belongings included an AR-15 platform rifle described as a Palmetto State Armory Liberty-15, a Black Aces Tactical FD 12 shotgun, two semiautomatic handguns, a shotgun, body armor, smoke grenades, suspected silencers, an array of ammunition, spent shell casings and a homemade target, according to the proffer, which was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton.
Lapinski’s alleged list of weapons, ammo and accessories alone makes him a domestic terrorist attack waiting to happen, but it gets worse once you find out why he was taken into custody in the first place as well as that aforementioned list.
According to Anton, Margate police officers received a report of shots fired about 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 31, and they arrived at the home of a woman who said she and her brother, ultimately identified as Lapinski, were the only residents. Officers determined Lapinski was the shooter and they took him into custody and transported him to a medical facility for a mental evaluation. No injuries were reported.
Now, about that list.
From NBC:
The alleged list of targets includes Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., as well as locations the writer of the list characterized as draws for Jewish and Black people — a synagogue, a Jewish cemetery, a Jewish sandwich shop and parks and schools that were described using a derogatory term for Black people, according to Anton’s filing.
One entry on the list said, “Stalk Jewish parks,” the proffer said.
Moskowitz, who was re-elected Nov. 5, thanked law enforcement for its work on the case. “Regardless of our political affiliation or differences, we all have families we want to keep safe,” he said in a statement Nov. 8.
Then there’s Lapinksi’s past run-ins with the law.
Officers discovered that Lapinski was convicted twice in 2005 for resisting an officer with violence, a felony, and that he was under an ongoing restraining order in a 2017 domestic violence case, Anton said. In both matters, Lapinski was prohibited by a judge from possessing firearms and ammunition.
A detention hearing for Lapinski is scheduled for Nov. 27.
Be safe out there, folks.
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