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May 08, 2019
On May 1, 2019, federal authorities arrested Chase Bliss Colasurdo of Kent, Washington, and charged him with making violent threats against President Trump’s family and media figures, as well as ongoing bomb threats to synagogues.
Colasurdo is just the latest virulent anti-Semite to be apprehended by law enforcement after allegedly making violent threats online. In April, Corbin Kauffman was arrested in Pennsylvania, and Dakota Reed was arrested in December by authorities in Washington state on similar charges.
The Instagram account purportedly attributed to Colasurdo is dominated by violent expressions of vitriolic anti-Semitism and deep-seated misogyny, and he allegedly was using the account to encourage violence against his enemies: Jews, women, and a range of political figures, including members of the Trump family. According to experts in ADL’s Center on Extremism, extremists are increasingly using Instagram to broadcast their violent, racist and anti-Semitic views.
Among Colasurdo’s alleged posts: Images and messages promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and advocating for the murder of Jews, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who survived the April 2019 shooting attack at the Chabad Congregation in Poway, California.
His posts express deeply misogynistic views and ideology frequently found within the incel (involuntary celibate) community. On his Instagram account, anti-Semitism and misogyny appear to be closely intertwined. He allegedly writes, “The sad reality is in the Jew world we live in women do not need you. That is why the Jews must be killed #killthejewssavetheworld.” He appears to target a number of specific women in his online rants, including calling for the rape and murder of one female writer at a late-night comedy show.
In a March 17, 2019, posting, Colasurdo discusses being placed in a mental institution and laments his social isolation even as he fantasizes about murdering Jews, writing, “I just wish I had friends… Jews are going to have to be annihilated…I just hope I can take as many kikes down with me as I can.”
His Instagram posts contain specific violent threats to conservative/Republican figures including Donald Trump, whom he calls “a Jew slave,” after the President praised Rabbi Goldstein of the Poway Chabad.
He likewise targets U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “Just kill the f-----,” National Security Advisor John Bolton and right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro, whom he refers to as a “kike that should be executed.” He allegedly posted an image of Jewish members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and wrote, “kill them,” and a link to a story about Pennsylvania legislators attempting to pass gun control measures. It was accompanied by the message, “I will personally execute any politician involved in pushing this legislation.”
Colasurdo often praises and posts images of anti-Semitic politician Patrick Little, who in 2018 embarked in on a “Name the Jew” tour across the U.S.
While Colasurdo believes the Christchurch mosque massacres were false flags—plots by the Israelis/Jews -- he praised the attack by alleged Poway shooter John Earnest, calling him “true hero.” He defended Earnest’s actions, writing, “it was self-defense. God bless him.”
Colasurdo also apparently used the video hosting site Bitchute to post anti-Semitic rants that include messages about mind control, Jewish ritual murder and Nazi propaganda.
A flag for the Cascadia independence movement is visible in images of what appears to be Colasurdo’s residence. Colasurdo mistakenly conflates the non-racist Cascadia movement with the “Northwest Imperative,” a longstanding call by some white supremacists for white people to establish their own country in the Pacific Northwest.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington, interstate threats are punishable by up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release.