Man who made antisemitic threats against local official detained pending trial

Edward Arthur Owens Jr. must remain in prison while awaiting trial on federal charges of “transmitting in interstate or foreign commerce” a message “containing a threat to injure the person of another,” pursuant to a judge’s June 5 order.

Owens, 29, of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly, who agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Spindler that public safety could not be guaranteed if Owens was granted monitored release into the custody of his mother, Wendy Burtner-Owens .

The detention hearing was held after the defendant waived his right to a probable cause pretrial hearing.

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At the hearing, FBI Special Agent Abigail Patcher testified that on May 20, 2025, Owens sent a threatening message by Facebook to a Pittsburgh public official, whose identity is being withheld out of concern for their safety.

“We’re coming for you [emoji of person raising right hand] [German flag emoji] be afraid. Go back to Israel or better yet, exterminate yourself and save us the trouble. 109 countries for a reason. We will not stop until your kind is nonexistent,” Owens wrote using the alias Casey Jones.

The number 109 is based on an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews have been expelled from 109 countries.

Patcher detailed for the court a list of antisemitic and conspiratorial statements made by Owens and cataloged several alleged lies he told FBI agents while they investigated the threats.

Among the litany of antisemitic statements the FBI found on the defendant’s phone included that Jews control the media and run the world, that Adolf Hitler did nothing wrong and that the United States should have supported Germany during World War II.

Owens expressed frustration with United States support of Israel in its war against Hamas, saying that he didn’t have health insurance but that the U.S. could send $5 billion to Israel.

The defendant, Patcher said, searched the internet for New York City synagogues as well as the phrase, “dancing Jews,” a reference to the conspiracy theory that five Israeli men were seen dancing in the streets of New York in the wake of Al Qaeda’s 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, and were arrested and later released without being charged.

The defendant’s vitriol wasn’t only directed at the Jewish community, though. He also wrote with anger about Blacks, Christians and Muslims.

“F— Palestine,” “F— Lebanon,” “F— Yemen,” he wrote.

Perhaps most chilling were the revelations that Owens searched and read several of the same distorted Talmud verses as the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, who killed 11 Jews in the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018, as well as a text message the defendant sent to a friend asking if they were ready to “hunt down Jews for extermination.”

Outlining her investigation into the threats, Patcher recounted a series of lies Owens allegedly told the FBI.

After obtaining a search warrant for his phone, Patcher and another agent questioned Owens at a Squirrel Hill restaurant where he was eating with his girlfriend. Owens, the agent said, told several falsehoods during the voluntary interview, including that he hadn’t sent the threatening messages, that he didn’t know who Casey Jones was, that his phone must have been hacked and that he had no biases toward any groups or people. He also lied about the number of guns he possessed and where the guns were, initially telling Patcher that his grandmother in Butler County had possession of two rifles he owned for hunting, and saying they were the only firearms he owned, according to the FBI.

He eventually admitted that the Casey Jones alias was his, saying he used that name when selling items on Facebook Marketplace.

When confronted with the information that Patcher traced the threat to an IP address at Owens’ home, he said he may have sent the message but was most likely “blacked out” drunk. Owens’ girlfriend, who was interviewed separately at the restaurant, said that he was not drunk the night the threatening message was sent.

Both Owens’ mental health and his abuse of alcohol and cannabis were frequently referenced by both the government and defense attorneys.

After Patcher’s initial conversation with Owens, he left the agent a voicemail saying that he had a new cell phone and that he needed “to own up to what I did,” saying that he “was just a keyboard warrior” who “sometimes lashes out.”

Owens was arrested on May 30 after appearing at the FBI’s South Side office to, he believed, pick up his phone.

During an interview with Patcher and another agent at the FBI, Owens admitted to sending the threatening message but blamed it on issues with alcohol, something he said has been a problem since he was 21, and his frustration with Israel and “what’s going on in Gaza right now.”

He said he understood that the threats had frightened the public official who, Patcher said, was now terrified of doing their job or appearing in public, fearing for their safety and that of their family.

Owens denied having any connection to extremist groups during his interview with the FBI and said he “had no plans to do anything crazy,” noting that he has no history of violence.

Asked again about his guns, he told the agents that he owned two rifles, which he turned over to his mother “a while ago” and that he had a Smith and Wesson handgun, also at his mother’s home.

When the FBI searched Owens’ truck, they found the handgun along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and an AR-15 rifle, which he owns.

Owens told the agents he assumed the person he threatened was Jewish but wasn’t sure, but he knew they supported Israel.
The only other witness to testify was Owens’ mother, who said he could live with her if he were released pending trial, as long as he received mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Burtner-Owens, who broke down in tears during her testimony, said she owns her own business as a nonprofit consultant and that she works out of her home two or three days a week.

Owens’ mother also testified that she asked him for his weapons after she picked him up from the Squirrel Hill restaurant following his questioning by the FBI, because she feared he would hurt himself. That point contradicted the timeline Owens presented to the FBI about when he gave his mother his guns.

Following the conclusion of witness testimony and closing arguments by the government and defense attorneys, Kelly said there were several factors to consider when deciding if Owens should be released pending trial.

She cited a pretrial report that said there were no conditions that could reasonably assure the safety of the community if Owens were granted monitored release, and that the nature of the threat was “real,” “significant” and “inflicted terror.” Those, and the weight of the evidence presented at the hearing leaned toward not granting Owens release, Kelly said.

The judge cited Owens’ lack of a criminal record and strong family ties as factors in favor of release.

Owens’ mental health and substance abuse were issues, Kelly noted, before saying that in the end, the defendant’s lies to law enforcement and the guns and ammunition found in his truck were the deciding factors in determining that he should remain in custody pending trial.

Kelly noted she was concerned about Owens’ well-being and would talk with U.S. marshals to ensure he was observed in prison and received mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Throughout the hearing, Owens, dressed in orange prison garb, sat with his head down, only occasionally talking with his attorney.

If convicted, Owens faces a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. A date has not yet been set for his trial. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.