“I’m gonna shoot up a black pre-school. 20 black babies will be shot and then skinned like the animals they are.” Those were the horrific words Zachary Charles Newell wrote in a YouTube comment that caught the attention of a cybercrime team at Google, who then quickly alerted the FBI, according to a probable cause affidavit via The Independent.
The 25-year-old from North Carolina was spewing his hate anonymously, under the name CommentatorsHateMe, in the comments section of a video discussing the devastating wrestling incident between MMA fighter Raja Jackson, who is Black, and pro wrestler Stuart “Syko Stu” Smith, who is white.
On Aug. 25, Jackson pummeled his opponent during a professional wrestling skit gone wrong while he was lying on the mat and apparently unconscious, in an attack that almost took Smith’s life. Jackson’s father, the legendary UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, has since publicly condemned his son’s actions.
Newell had been watching online commentary about the incident by Florida attorney Andrew Clifford d’Adesky, who goes by “Andrew Esquire” on his YouTube channel, when he made the vile remarks about massacring Black children. In the video, D’Adesky discussed a reported LAPD investigation into the beating.
Just the day before, Newell posted another hate-filled missive on a different video, one titled “WWE Wrestler Reacts to Raja Jackson Incident,” according to the affidavit. The video takes a closer look at a heated, seemingly unscripted incident that occurred between the two fighters before the match. In the video, Smith unexpectedly hits Raja in the head with what appears to be a beer can. As commenters debated whether this sparked Raja’s rage, Newell wrote:
“You’re an incel p***y…A literal [N-word] hiding in Germany. Wait until they gut you like the animal you are. The amount of pain and suffering black people are about to suffer makes me so happy.”
According to the affidavit, Google not only unmasked “CommentatorsHateMe” but also provided his email address, recovery email, phone number, home address, and an IP address that was traced back to him.
On September 2, he was arrested at his mobile home in Newport by the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, where he allegedly confessed to making the malicious threats.
According to the affidavit, “Deputies advised Newell they were contacted by the FBI and advised of a recent post on YouTube that Newell was going to shoot up an African-American pre-school and skin the children as the animals that they are… Newell advised deputies that [he] had made the comment on YouTube.”
After his arrest, he posted $30,000 bail but was taken into federal custody by the sheriff’s office and the FBI, where he remains while he awaits additional charges.
