Fantasy football feud leads man to frame rival for mass shooting, bomb threats

A Pennsylvania antheral embroiled successful a phantasy shot feud has fessed up to sending phony tips to instrumentality enforcement astir a imaginable wide shooting and bombing crippled successful a bid to framework a rival subordinate of his league.

Matthew Gabriel, 25, of Philadelphia has pleaded guilty to 2 counts of interstate and overseas connection of threats stemming from 2 abstracted incidents, the archetypal of which occurred successful August 2023, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday. Around that time, Gabriel got into a heated disagreement with an unidentified subordinate of his phantasy shot radical chat, who planned to question to Norway aboriginal the aforesaid month.

Upon learning of his rival’s survey overseas trip, prosecutors said Gabriel submitted an anonymous “tip” to the Norwegian Police Security Service — which investigates threats to the country’s nationalist information — alleging the antheral was readying to transportation retired a wide shooting there. He wrote that his league mate would beryllium “around Oslo and has a shooting planned with aggregate radical connected his broadside involved. They program to instrumentality arsenic galore arsenic they tin astatine a performance and past caput to a section store,” according to the Justice Department property release.

“I don’t cognize immoderate much radical past that, I conscionable can’t person random radical dying connected my conscience,” the written extremity continued. “he plans to get determination unarmed walk a mates days mean and past execute the attack. delight beryllium ready.”

It prompted a five-day investigation by instrumentality enforcement successful Norway and the United States.

Then, successful March 2024,Gabriel, posing arsenic idiosyncratic else, sent informing of a imaginable bombing to the University of Iowa. In the email, with a taxable enactment speechmaking “Possible threat,” Gabriel besides provided a screenshot from his phantasy shot radical chat.

“Hello, I saw this successful a radical chat I’m successful and conscionable privation to marque definite everyone is harmless and fine,” helium wrote. “I don’t privation thing atrocious to hap to immoderate body. Thank you. A antheral named [PERSON 1] from I judge Nebraska sent this, and I privation to marque definite that it is simply a gag and nary 1 volition get hurt.”

Prosecutors said the remainder of the conversation, which was not provided successful the screengrab, showed the remark was intelligibly made successful jest.

He faces a maximum imaginable condemnation of 5 years successful situation and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7.