Michigan man accused of planning to target synagogue is charged with threats

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a young Michigan man who is accused of making threats over social media and having plans to target a synagogue near Lansing. Seann Pietila, of Pickford in the Upper Peninsula, has been in custody since June 16. Now an indictment charging him with making threats, including a threat to kill by fire, has been filed in federal court in Grand Rapids. Investigators say Pietila had the name of a synagogue in East Lansing on his phone along with a 2024 date. He wrote to another Instagram user that he would “inspire others to take arms against the Jewish controlled state.”