A Binghamton man has been charged with five felonies after allegedly threatening New York State Senator Lea Webb in a Facebook comment.
On June 24, New York State Police announced that James A. Crosby, 49, had been charged after posting a threatening comment on Facebook in response to a WBNG news story featuring Senator Webb at a Juneteenth event.
The Binghamton City Democratic Council shared a screenshot of Crosby’s alleged comment under WBNG’s Facebook post that read “I’d be proud to hang her from a tree.” The committee said in the post that it is “particularly disgusted by the proud racism that this individual displayed, expressing his joyful willingness to lynch our state senator.”
Crosby was arrested on June 23 and transported to the Broome County Jail for centralized arraignment.
During the investigation, police said Crosby was also in possession of firearms, including a rifle, a large capacity ammunition feeding device and a firearm suppressor, despite being prohibited from possessing them due to a prior felony conviction.
Crosby was charged with making a terroristic threat as a hate crime and four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Crosby posted a statement to Facebook on June 22, admitting to posting the comment, apologizing to Webb and claiming his comment was “not intended to be racial in any way.”
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Binghamton man charged with 5 felonies for Facebook comment about Senator Lea Webb
Reporting by Jillian McCarthy, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jillian McCarthy, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin | USA TODAY Network
