Man ‘mad at God' brought gun, ammo to Virginia church, feds say. Now, jury convicts him
On a rainy Sunday morning, a man dressed in all black entered a Virginia church through the back door as congregants were gathered for a service that was in session, according to court documents.
Earlier that morning, authorities heard from a concerned caller who reported online threats the man, Rui Jiang, made against Park Valley Church in Haymarket, prosecutors said.
Jiang's online posts, 'which made clear his intention to kill congregants,' were shared Sept. 23, 2023, the night before the Sunday church service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
When police officers arrived at the church on Sept. 24, 2023, they found Jiang inside the front entrance, armed with 'a semiautomatic handgun and two full magazines of ammunition,' prosecutors said.
The officers also located 34 more rounds of ammunition inside Jiang's car, according to prosecutors.
In February 2024, a criminal complaint was filed against Jiang, who was 35 at the time, charging him in connection with making threats toward the church and its attendees, McClatchy News previously reported.
Now, a federal jury has found Jiang, of Falls Church, guilty of a hate crime following a four-day trial, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.
The jury returned its verdict on March 6. The verdict form shows they convicted Jiang of an attempted obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs by force or threat of force involving an attempt to kill or attempted use of a dangerous weapon; using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; and transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another.
Jiang's federal public defender, Todd M. Richman, declined McClatchy News' request for comment March 7.
When Jiang was interviewed by police, he denied planning to hurt the Park Valley Church's congregants, according to an affidavit previously reviewed by McClatchy News.
While speaking about the threats he posted to Instagram, he told officers that he made the posts because he was 'mad at God,' 'not at the church,' according to the affidavit.
The person who alerted police to the posts was a woman who met Jiang over a dating app earlier in 2023, she told authorities, the affidavit said.
She sensed 'something was wrong' because she knew Jiang as a 'very religious' person, according to the affidavit, which said she was no longer speaking with Jiang.
One of Jiang's posts included a video of a Bible burning on a stove, the affidavit showed.
Police find threatening letter
Jiang was approached by church volunteers, who were concerned over his behavior, when authorities responded on Sept. 24, 2023, according to prosecutors.
Members of the church's security team became suspicious of Jiang as they watched him walk around the church, seemingly searching for cameras and tapping on windows as if he 'was testing the strength of the glass,' according to investigators.
After Jiang was apprehended by Prince William County police, prosecutors said officers searched his apartment and found five copies of a letter, which he signed with his name in ink.
'I apologize in advance, if any women are harmed … To the families of those men about to be slain — I am sorry for what I have done and about to do,' the threatening letter said, according to investigators.
In the letter, Jiang also wrote about the ongoing deterioration of his mental health, the affidavit showed.
Jiang was indicted in March 2024, then the court found he could be experiencing mental health issues that could render him 'mentally incompetent,' according to court filings.
The court later ruled in November that Jiang was competent to stand trial, records show.
In a previous statement to McClatchy News, Park Valley Church Pastor Barry White said 'we praise God for keeping our church safe on September 24th last year.'
'We also pray that Mr. Jiang gets the help he needs because we care about him also,' White said.
Jiang is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to life in prison, prosecutors said.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 18, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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