Falls Church man found guilty of hate crime for threatening church members
On the evening of Sept. 23, 2023, then 35-year-old Rui Jiang began making threats against Park Valley Church on his Instagram account, according to court documents and the (USAO).
A person reported to police that Jiang had posted a photo of a burning Bible that evening. The next morning, the same person said he posted several more photos and messages on the same Instagram account, including one of a gun pointed at a church on a TV screen.
According to that person, Jiang was very religious and once they saw what he posted on his Instagram, they decided to call the police.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police arrest man who made online threats about Prince William County church
The person also said Jiang was in front of Park Valley Church in some of his posts, that he had a gun and was making threats.
Officials began looking into his Instagram account and found a number of concerning photographs, videos and captions. A string of seven photos were all taken in front of the church and posted back-to-back in the early hours of Sept. 24.
One caption read, 'Welcome to Park Valley church, attended by many top secret gov clearance holders in the area. From this day forward, you will know that this is how you will repaid me. Blood will be on your hands.'
The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) conducted a welfare check on Jiang shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2023. Unable to find him or his car at his home, FCPD contacted the Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) with concerns over potential violence at Park Valley Church.
A PWCPD officer responded to the church and found Jiang's car in the parking lot. A member of the church's security team happened to be leading Jiang out of the church when the officer arrived.
The officer spoke to Jiang, who said he was leaving after security asked him to go.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man indicted for threatening to kill Prince William County church members
Officers found that Jiang was armed with a semiautomatic handgun and two full magazines of ammunition. He also had an additional 34 rounds of ammunition in his car.
He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital for evaluation by the community services board.
While searching his apartment later that day, police found five copies of a letter.
According to court documents, the letter read, in part, 'What I am about to do, is not personal. It is not politically motivated. … It is not religiously motivated. These people – soon to be victims – were not targeted in advance.'
'To the families of those men about to be slain – I am sorry for what I have done and about to do. … I hope you do not take this personally on me either. For whatever pain I cause, I hope to return in my next lifetime through philanthropy,' the letter continued.
The letter was signed and dated Sept. 24, 2023, the same day Jiang was detained at the church.
After a four-day trial, a jury found Jiang guilty of 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, as well as other related charges.
His sentencing is scheduled for June 18, where he faces anywhere from five years to life in prison.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
23 minutes ago
Restaurant owner speaks out after car smashes through window where food creators were filming
A Texas restaurant is open for business again after a vehicle came crashing through the eatery over the weekend. The incident occurred at around 4 p.m. on Saturday at Cuvee Culinary Creations in Houston, according to restaurant owner Ivory Watkins. Two content creators who were dining at the establishment narrowly missed being struck by the vehicle, unintentionally capturing shocking footage of the moment, which the restaurant later shared on its Instagram page. Nina Santiago, known online as Nina Unrated, was filming her YouTube series, "Nina Unrated Eats," alongside fellow content creator Patrick Blackwood when a driver in an SUV plowed through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows where they were seated, knocking over the table and scattering the dishes directly in front of them, according to the video footage. In the video, fellow patrons and restaurant staff can be seen in the background looking on in shock as Santiago and Blackwood scramble out of their seats. Santiago wrote in an Instagram post afterward that she was "beyond grateful to be alive." She shared several photos from inside an ambulance and the hospital where she and Blackwood were apparently treated for their injuries, which show cuts on their faces, necks, arms and hands. Santiago and Blackwood did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment. Watkins described the incident as "a freak accident," telling ABC News he had just walked away from Santiago and Blackwood's table seconds prior to the moment of impact. "I was looking at my two customers and thinking, 'What is going on? This is crazy,'" he recalled. "We never know what God has in store for us -- I'm glad they're safe." Watkins said he called 911 as soon as the incident occurred, adding that the manager of the restaurant was quick to tend to Santiago and Blackwood in the immediate aftermath and helped provide care for their cuts and scrapes until paramedics arrived on the scene. Watkins said "police came out and did their due diligence" and a report was filed by the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The owner apologized for the incident, saying, "My job at my restaurant is to keep my guests safe. I fell short." "We were glad that we didn't have any more guests [at the time of the crash]," he added. "The main thing is everybody is safe." The restaurant's windows are currently boarded up, however Watkins was able to reopen for service on Sunday. He said the establishment has new safety measures in place, including two company vehicles and two employee vehicles that are parked in the parking spaces in front of the restaurant's window seating.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
French streamer dies live online after months of apparent abuse
French police are investigating the death of a popular streamer, who died during a nearly 12-day live stream after apparently suffering abusive and humiliating treatment. Raphaël Graven, 46, known online as Jean Pormanove or JP, is one of the biggest streamers in France on the platform Kick and died on Monday. The 46-year-old military veteran had built a following numbering more than a million across different platforms streaming himself playing video games and had often appeared in extreme challenges. He had been collaborating since 2023 with several other streamers, principally Owen Cenazandotti, known as Naruto online, and Safine Hamadi, both of whom took part in his final livestream. Cenazandotti announced his death Monday on Instagram. In the video livestream that appeared to show his death, after he stopped moving, viewers donated money to send messages alerting the sleeping streamers to Pormanove's condition. The Nice prosecutor's office told CNN that an investigation has been opened into his death and an autopsy ordered. So far, authorities have not announced any charges related to Pormanove's death. In dozens of videos from past livestreams reviewed by CNN, Pormanove appears to be the target of jokes, bullying, physical attacks and degrading stunts. Videos from their joint livestreams show Pormanove's fellow streamers competing to see how long they could throttle him, others show him being shot with paintballs or doused with water. Thanks to donations from subscribers, the group earned money from the livestreams. In Pormanove's final livestream, a counter at the top of the screen suggested the group had earned some 36,000 euros ($42,000) from the days-long stream. Leaving a mark During Pormanove's final livestream, which appeared to run to nearly 300 hours, participants were woken up by the revving of a motorbike in their shared bedroom, or a leafblower. At one point, Pormanove appears to be woken up when a bucket of water is thrown over him. In an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV, Yassin Sadouni, a lawyer for Cenazandotti, said Pormanove suffered from cardiovascular problems. In one video, Pormanove talked of having to take medication. In another, Cenazandotti purports to read out messages Pormanove sent to his mother in which he complains of being 'held prisoner' by his co-streamers. The game 'is going too far,' Cenazandotti said his message read, during Pormanove's last livestream. 'I feel like I'm being held prisoner by their sh***y concept,' Cenazandotti said Pormanove wrote. It's not clear who precisely Pormanove was referring to and in a later clip he tells Cenazandotti, 'you know what I'm like when I'm angry' in reference to the messages. In another clip, his mother berates Pormanove over the phone for letting the co-streamers shave off parts of his hair. 'Are you proud of your hair? Did you see what he did to you?' she said, 'They are treating you like s***.' Sadouni, Cenazandotti's lawyer, told BFMTV that Pormanove's mother participated in staged stunts with the streamers. A common theme in discussions with his co-streamers was Pormanove's wish to marry and have children, a hope that often drew apparently mockery from the streamers. In a video from 2024, Pormanove was asked how he hoped to be remembered when he died. 'No wife, no kids. But what a nice guy!' Pormanove said, 'Me, what's on my mind now, it's to leave a mark.' 'An absolute horror' Sadouni said Cenazandotti – known by his streamer handle Naruto – had nothing to do with Pormanove's death and said that the incidents targeting Pormanove were all staged. 'My client is ready to be heard and to provide all useful information,' he told CNN affiliate BFMTV Tuesday. Cenazandotti has also filed a complaint with authorities that he is being harassed online since Pormanove's death, according to Sadouni. CNN has reached out to Pormanove's mother and Hamadi for comment. Cenazandotti and Hamadi were briefly detained as part of a police investigation into the humiliation of vulnerable people in January 2025, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. According to the Nice prosecutor, they denied committing any crime and have not been charged with any crime. 'The death of Jean Pormanove and the violence he endured are an absolute horror,' French Secretary of State for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz said in a post on X Tuesday. 'Jean Pormanove was humiliated and mistreated for months live on the Kick platform,' she added. Kick, the streaming platform the streamers used, said that all those involved in the broadcast had been banned 'pending the ongoing investigation,' which the site will cooperate with, per a statement to CNN Wednesday.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
3 Friends Staying in Fla. Vacation Rental Claim Woman Followed Them into Elevator and Accused Them of 'Trespassing' (Exclusive)
The trio recorded the moment they were harassed by a resident of the building who repeatedly called them "pimp" and "whore" in a series of TikTok videos shared on Aug. 18 NEED TO KNOW A group of three friends staying in a Palm Beach, Fla. rental documented the moment they were harassed by another resident who allegedly lived in the building The resident claimed the group was 'trespassing' on her 'private property' when she found them taking photos in the hallway She can be seen following the group and calling them names in a three-part post shared by one of the friends on TikTok A group of friends staying in a vacation rental apartment in Palm Beach, Fla. documented the moment they were harassed by a resident who claimed they were 'trespassing.' Sharing the incident in a three-part TikTok series on Aug. 18, creator Polina, whose username is @polina_sussss21, explained how the whole ordeal began when the woman saw them taking photos in the hallway of the building. Polina, a model, noted in the video that one of her friends had rented a unit in the building so they could take pictures for his clothing brand's Instagram account. The first video shows the woman, who claimed she owned a property in the building, following the group around while pointing her phone camera at them. She can be heard shouting names like 'pimp' and 'whore' at the trio multiple times in the videos. Iris Grey — one of the friends involved in the incident and the person who recorded the videos that Polina shared — tells PEOPLE that while they remained respectful the whole time, the woman would not stop berating them. 'We were shooting a fashion campaign in a Palm Beach Hotel close to Mar-a-Lago for my friend Alexander Roys new collection, with Polina modeling, when a neighbor suddenly decided we were running a pimp and whore operation," says Grey, who also shared the incident to his Instagram account. He continues, "She kept insisting we were trespassing, calling us pimps and Polina a whore. Even though she followed and harassed us, we stayed respectful and kind. Didn't realize shooting a fashion campaign came with its own crime drama, but I think we should turn this negative energy into a positive.' In the TikTok, Polina explains that they eventually went 'downstairs to speak to [the] front desk because [the woman's] behavior was unacceptable." As the group tells the person seated at the front desk what happened, the woman can be heard repeatedly cutting into the conversation. 'What permission do they have but to rent the apartment and live in it, not to trespass on private property with their whoring event,' she says. 'They were outside of my home. My homestead property. I don't know where they're from.' The woman proceeds to call Polina a 'whore' as the group continues their conversation at the front desk. When they note that they were taking photos in a common area of the building, the woman interjects, 'It's common elements that I own, not that they rent. They rent their room, not my common elements.' In the second video that Polina shared, the group attempts to make their way back to their room as the woman follows them into the elevator. While one of the friends tries to block the entryway to the elevator, the woman pushes past him to get inside. She continues to point her camera at the group as she says, 'You're trespassing. Trespassing on my homestead property in Florida,' to which one of the friends responds, 'How are we trespassing? We rented an Airbnb.' (Grey later clarified to PEOPLE that the property was not an Airbnb and that it was a "direct rental from the owner.") The woman then says, 'So what? That gives you a right to your unit and only your unit." They exit the elevator and tell the woman that they're going back to their room, which prompts her to add, 'You get back into your room and I'll let you know your rights while you sit in Florida, whores.' Once the group finally reaches their unit, she tells them to 'stay in your f—ing room," as they close the door. She continues to stand outside with her phone pointed at them. Polina added in the caption, 'She waited outside our room for another 10 minutes.' In a third TikTok, Polina says that the host of the rental contacted her after she shared the incident and offered her a free stay at their place. She also noted that the owner claimed this woman has harassed other people in the past and that she's known to cause issues. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Many users flocked to the comments section of the videos to call out the woman's unruly behavior. 'WTH?! So you rented a unit in a building with common areas, took a few pics, and she's acting like she owns the whole property?? Can't wait until people she knows sees this derogatory rant,' one person commented. Another wrote, 'Why is no one talking about how she followed you to YOUR unit???' Others commended the group for how they handled the incident. 'This was handled so well,' one person added, followed by another who commented, 'My anger issues would've handled things differently than these sweet folks.' Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
