L.A. man who sent threatening, antisemitic text messages is sentenced to prison
A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Monday to three years and seven months in federal prison after repeatedly threatening a Jewish woman and texting her violent, antisemitic and anti-Asian messages.
Andre Lackner of Northridge pleaded guilty to one count of stalking in January and admitted to sending text messages such as “I want to see every single Jew exterminated from this earth” and “I will make sure I kill a Jew,” according to court documents.
He faced a maximum of five years in prison.
Lackner, 35, sent the messages between June 2021 and October 2022 to a victim identified in court documents as M.S., who met Lackner in 2006 at Santa Monica College. Lackner and M.S. briefly dated and ended the relationship on friendly terms, court documents said.
Read more: L.A. man's violent, antisemitic texts made woman fear for her life, prosecutor says
M.S. encouraged Lackner to seek help when he started sending her messages about hurting himself and others. She reported Lackner to the FBI after receiving overtly threatening and antisemitic messages.
The messages caused her “to fear for her safety, that of her family, and that of the larger community,” a sentencing memorandum said.
“Maybe Hitler was on to something,” one message said. “You need to be walked back to the gas chamber where you belong.”
Lackner also made violent comments toward Asians, writing that “the Asians are even worse” and that he wanted to “start more Asian hate.”
Court documents say Lackner had a history of posting threats online about mass shootings at schools, on cruise ships and at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
In 2017, he called his old Venice High School teacher and threatened to kill her and her family, documents said. Four days later, he appeared at a park where the teacher was walking her dog. He was arrested and convicted of making criminal threats with the intent to terrorize.
M.S. stopped replying to Lackner’s messages soon after they became violent, and eventually blocked him, sentencing documents said. She told law enforcement that Lackner was aware her family was Jewish and wrote that “he may remember where my family now lives,” and “he might try to go there and hurt Jews.”
Lackner has been in federal custody since December 2022.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
