Guilty Plea for Man Accused in 2022 Anti-Semitic Terrorist Plot

A man who was arrested in Penn Station nearly two years ago and charged in a connection with a terror plot to attack Jewish synagogues has pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced to ten years in state prison.

But in a bizarre twist, a second individual who was arrested in Penn Station at the same time by MTA police on November 18, 2022, is said to be a Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors, and his attorney insists he had no knowledge of the terrorist plot and anti-Semitic rantings of his co-defendant.

Initially prosecutors charged both men with conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon. But now the DA’s office is saying only that the charges for the second individual “remains open and pending.”

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg announced the guilty plea of 23-year-old Christopher Brown for possessing a firearm as part of a planned terror attack on the New York Jewish community. Under terms of his plea deal pleading guilty to one count of criminal possession of a weapon in a crime of terrorism, he is expected to be sentenced to ten years in state prison, followed by five years of supervised release, prosecutors said.

”Christopher Brown has been held accountable for his plan to commit a violent, anti-Semitic terrorist act,” said Bragg. “Thankfully, we were able to intervene and prevent him from following through, which is the result of the close partnership we have with our law enforcement partners on the local and federal level.”

In the guilty plea, prosecutors said Brown admitted he published several threatening posts on Twitter [now known as X] under his username @VrilGod including “God wants me to shoot up a synagogue and die” and “Gonna ask a priest if I should become a husband or shoot up a synagogue and die” and “This time I’m really gonna do it.”

The more bizarre involvement in the case is Matthew Mahrer, the man prosecutors said was paid $650 to buy Brown a loaded weapon in Pennsylvania. A third man, Jamil Hakime, was arrested and charged in connection with driving Brown and Mahrer to Pennsylvania to buy the illegal weapon. Hakime pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten to 16 months in state prison. He was not charged in connection with a terror plot, however.

Gilbert Bayonne, the attorney for Mahrer said his client is Jewish and the grandson and great grandson of Holocaust survivors. He said his client has yet to enter a plea and that he has not been charged with terrorist offenses.

”The DA has been clear that they have no knowledge or evidence to support that he was involved in a terrorist plot,” Bayonne told Straus News.

The DAs office said that Mahrer faces a charge of conspiracy and traveled with Brown to Pennsylvania to obtain the illegal weapon. He was also said to be in possession of other illegal firearms not involved in Brown’s terrorism case, according to prosecutors.

At the time Brown and Mahrer were arrested, Brown’s backpack contained a knife and a Nazi swastika, court records stated.

The arrest of Brown and Mahrer generated big headlines at the time in 2022. Eric Goldstein, the head of the United Jewish Federation/NYC had tipped off police to the anti-Semitic postings of Brown and was present at a press conference attended by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, then-NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Mayor Adams.

And at the press conference announcing the arrest of the two men, Adams had thanked the NYPD for “bringing these bigots to justice.”

In an interview with the Forward in Sept. 2023 Susan and Michael Mahrer, parents of Matthew Mahrer, said their son had learning disabilities and was a high functioning autistic and has had bouts of homelessness. He reportedly met the driver, Hamike, while both were homeless, according to prosecutors.

Mahrer’s parents, who live on W. 94th St. also spoke of deep roots in the Jewish community and how painful it was to be ostracized on the Upper West Side where they have lived for years because of ill will generated by press coverage of the case. They said that Matthew’s grandfather, Jerry Mahrer who was 94 at the time of the interview, is a Holocaust survivor, as was Matthew’s great grandfather, Pavel (Paul) Mahrer, who was a Czech soccer star who had played for the Czechoslovakian team in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Pavel was arrested when the Nazis occupied his country in 1942 and eventually was freed in a prison swap for German POWS. The Museum of Jewish Heritage has a collection of more than 100 artifacts related to his story.

“What Matthew struggles with now, more than what he’s facing legally, is the shame of tarnishing the family name, and the history,” said Susan. His father Michael added, “he’s being accused of wanting to hurt people from his own community, both his physical community, the Upper West Side, and the Jewish community.” But his father insisted, “he’s never hurt anybody.”

Brown is scheduled to be officially sentenced on November 13.

Bayonne, Matthew’s attorney, said his client, who has been free on bail since his arrest, is due back in court on October 23.