Joey David George, Threats and Hate Crime, Washington 2022

Seattle, Washington – A Lynnwood man has been sentenced to two years in prison for making threatening phone calls to businesses in four states, including New York, California, Connecticut, and Maryland. Joey David George, 37, made the calls from his home in Lynnwood, Washington, and used racial slurs, threatening to shoot and kill Black people at the businesses.

According to records in the case, George telephoned multiple grocery stores in Buffalo, New York, on July 19, 20, and 21, 2022, and threatened to shoot Black people in the stores. He told the staff at the store to "take him seriously" and ordered the store to clear out the customers as he was "nearby" and "preparing to shoot all Black customers." One store closed.

The threats followed a racially motivated shooting at another Buffalo grocery store in May 2022. Law enforcement traced the phone number and identified George as the person who made the calls.

In addition to the calls to Buffalo, George admits that in May 2022, he called a restaurant in San Bruno, California, and threatened to shoot Black and Hispanic patrons in the restaurant. He also called a cannabis dispensary in Rockville, Maryland, on September 11, 2021, and used racial slurs as he threatened to shoot and kill Black people at the business.

George has agreed to pay $13,088 in restitution to the impacted businesses. He will be on three years of supervised release when he finishes his prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said, "While Mr. George suffers from some mental health impairments, his conduct in this case was deliberate and motivated by racial hatred." He noted that George used the tragedy of the Buffalo grocery store shooting to make his threats even more searing.

The case was investigated by the FBI with the assistance of multiple local police departments. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez said, "In today’s day and age, words are the weapons in the arsenal of the bully, the bigot, the racist and the homophobe…These words seep into the psyche of the victims and cause incredible pain that might never go away."