David Lenio of Kalispell, Montana, who is awaiting trial for threatening to shoot school kids and religious leaders, is active on Twitter again despite a court order that released him without bail into the custody of his investment banker father in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on condition that he stay off social media.
David Lenio, a 29-year-old White Nationalist, crossed the line between free speech and criminal threat when he tweeted threats to shoot grade school kids, put two bullets into the head of a rabbi, and kill other Jewish leaders. That is why I reported his threats to law enforcement on February 15, and why he was arrested and charged with a felony count of intimidation on February 16.
While I was reporting him to law enforcement from my home in Maryland, and providing them leads and a strategy to identify and locate him, Lenio went to his storage locker and retrieved a weapons cache. When the FBI and local law enforcement in Montana's Flathead Valley executed a search warrant, they found two rifles, ammunition, and, in his van, a handgun, marijuana, a pipe, and jugs of urine. You read that right: jugs, plural. Of urine.
My concern now, shared by many others, is that justice may not be served by the backroom deal apparently in the works, in which a young man who may be a danger to himself and to others could be released without having been held to account for his online threats against the Kalispell community, and without the court ensuring that Lenio receive appropriate mental health care which he apparently needs and deserves.
The prosecutor, County Attorney Ed Corrigan, is considering a possible plea bargain which could result in the felony charge of intimidation being reduced to a misdemeanor, or a deferred prosecution, which would mean that eventually, the felony charge would be dismissed, and Lenio would one day get his arsenal back. Imagine David Lenio, reloaded, courtesy of the State of Montana. That could happen.
For those who may not have been following this story in detail, here is a selection of Lenio’s tweets between December 30, 2014, when he first moved to Kalispell, and the evening of February 14, before he first initiated contact with me, in response to a tweet of mine in which I had defended freedom of speech. A number of media outlets have discussed the origins of my online encounter with Lenio, including here, here, and here.
I had reason to believe that Lenio’s tweets leave free speech in the rear-view mirror and show that he posed a danger to himself and to others. For example, Montana Cowgirl has posted screenshots of several of Lenio’s tweets, and various other media have reported a sample of his tweets, which demonstrate his obsession with killing. Here is a selection from Montana Cowgirl:
Dec. 30, 2014: “I David Lenio am literally so indebted [&] #underpaid that I want to go on a sandy hoax style spree in a kalispell, MT elementary #school 2014”
Dec. 30, 2014: “Let’s make national news, I david lenio know israel did 9/11 and I am so poor that I want to shoot up a kalispell Montana public school ...”
Dec. 30, 2014: “Seriously I think it would b hilarious if someone beat the sandy hoax school shooting spree high score in kalispell Montana cuz I’m too poor”
Dec. 30, 2014: “So let’s see how long I can express desire to see a shooting spree in kalispell Montana school b4 I get attention.”
Dec. 30, 2014: “I hope someone goes on a massive killing spree in kalispell school because I’m so poor I can’t afford housing and don’t care about your kids.”
Feb. 12, 2015: “I want to shoot up a school.”
Feb. 12, 2015: “Talk mental health all you want but if I must work for piss poor #homeless slave #wages & can’t get property in my homeland..I may kill kids”
Feb. 12, 2015: “I bet I could get at least 12 unarmed sitting ducks if I decided to go on a killing spree in a school. Sounds better than a slave wage.”
Feb. 12, 2015: “USA needs a Hitler to rise to power and fix our #economy and i’m about ready to give my life to the cause or just shoot a bunch of #kikes…”
Feb. 12, 2015: “If I had to pick between being homeless or shooting up a school and becoming dead, I’d say shooting up the school… Social security my ass”
Feb. 13, 2015: “I think every jew on the planet deserves to be killed for what kikes have done to our #dollar and cost of living Killing jews > wage #slave”
Feb. 13, 2015: “Best way to counter the harm #jewish #politics is causing is #ChapelHillShooting styling [sic] killing of #jews til they get the hint & leave”
Feb. 14, 2015: “I’m not even opposed to shooting up a random school like that sandy hoax stunt only realer, to voice my displeasure with being a wage slave”
Feb. 14, 2015: “I bet I’d take out at least a whole #classroom & score 30+ if l put my mind to it #Poverty is making me want to kill folks #MentalHealth?”
Feb. 14, 2015: “No one faults slaves who snapped & violently lashed out at their masters or the society which enslaved them. Why different for wage slaves?”
Feb. 14, 2015: “This working and not having a god damn thing to show for it bullshit makes me wanna execute grade #school #kids til the cops take me out too”
Feb. 14, 2015: ”What do you think costs more in most U.S. cities? A gun with enough ammunition to kill 100 school kids or the security deposit on an apartment.”
Feb. 14, 2015: “What would I rather do? Be a #wage slave for the rest of my life or tell society fuck you & do your kids a favor by shooting up a #school?”
Lenio was released on July 17. Last Thursday, I discovered that Lenio has violated the conditions of his release to his parents’ custody in Grand Rapids, Michigan at least 348 times by defying the court’s order that he not engage in social media while he awaits trial. These violations have been reported here, here, here, here, and here.
Earlier, I had discovered that Lenio was updating his Facebook page from inside the Flathead County jail, where inmates are forbidden from accessing the Internet, and that he was receiving support from Aryan Nations leader Karl Gharst.
Vince Devlin, writing for The Missoulian, notes:
One of the recent re-tweets from @PsychicDogTalk3, which authorities say was Lenio’s Twitter handle, is one that repeats part of a quote attributed to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who was discussing the Iran arms deal at the time.
“If someone says they want to kill you, believe them,” it says.
It’s right below a re-tweet of another post in which someone wrote, “I want to kill.”
As Raw Story has reported, I have told the news media that Lenio has violated the court’s order and shown contempt for the judge 348 times. He is unfit for release into his parent’s custody in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I question if he would be getting such preferential treatment if he weren’t white and the son of an investment banker. A Native American or Muslim man would be treated very differently under Montana law.
