‘Welcome to Florida!’ Sheriff greets man who allegedly threatened to kill him
By Claire Metz
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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A New Jersey man accused of making an online threat to kill Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has been extradited back to Central Florida to face charges. As promised, Chitwood was there to greet the suspect, 38-year-old Richard Golden.
Federal authorities actually identified the suspect and arrested him in New Jersey. Suspect Golden was allegedly in an online neo-Nazi chatroom at his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his mother, when he made the threat to kill the sheriff. That was after the sheriff called out hate groups who had been targeting the Volusia County community earlier this month.
“I’m Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood. Anything you want to…?” Chitwood said to Golden at the airport. “Hope you enjoy your stay. Welcome to Florida!”
Chitwood says it was important to him to face a man who allegedly made an online threat to kill him, but Golden, escorted by law enforcement, never said a word.
“He walked right by me. I mean, how gutless can you be?”
Investigators say Golden’s threat was identified following Race Weeks in Daytona Beach when antisemitic propaganda circulated. People with faces covered stood out in public with hateful signs. The sheriff held a news conference, came out strongly against the messages and wound up, he says, on a hit list. Officials say Golden’s was one of the intercepted threats.
“It’s not freedom of speech when you threaten to kill somebody. It’s not freedom of speech when you threaten to wipe out folks because of their religion or ethnicity,” Chitwood said.
The suspect who is charged with making a written threat to kill or cause injury, did not respond to questions for media members either. Rabbi Rob Lennick, executive director of the Volusia and Flagler Jewish Federation, was also on hand for the extradition. He says his community and other targets of hate appreciate the sheriff standing up for them. They want to stand up for the sheriff.
“The only way to get rid of this blight of hatred and antisemitism is if good people speak up as well. You know, free speech works in both directions,” Lennick said.
“If you put your head down and say just let it go, don’t confront this,” Chitwood said. “This is a sideshow. That’s how it grows. It snowballs.”
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