A New Jersey ex-Marine has pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot white people in a social media post in which he stated he wanted to "send as many as I possible [sic] can to the deepest pits of hell."
Joshua Cobb, 24, of Trenton, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. The charge has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Cobb is scheduled for sentencing May 20, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Cobb's social media post began: "I want to cause mayhem on the white community. The reason i specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles. Same way I will never understand their struggles, but I don't care to. I want to erase them. All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can."
Cobb then goes on to state that he has begun to plan his attack, is planning for it to occur in New Jersey, and had already acquired two of the four firearms he planned to use.
In the post, he states that he has selected a target and that he is confident that there won't be anyone armed there to stop him from "spraying them to the ground."
"I am going to wipe those ugly smiles completely off their faces. I dream of a day of pure evil on them. I plan to allow every evil spirit to work entirely through me and kill as many as i can. Some will get extra rounds through their head," Cobb wrote.
In the course of the investigation, Cobb provided information to law enforcement on possible targets including a gym and a grocery store in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Cobb also discussed his access to guns and his idolization of other mass shooters.
Cobb joined the marines after he wrote the post in 2022, NBC News reported. He was later discharged.
