Man accused of threats against Black churches and city officials

A 49-year-old Pahokee man is in a Palm Beach County jail cell following an investigation into allegations he made threats to harm city officials and burn Black churches, authorities said.

What started out as Facebook postings on topics such as corruption and mismanagement in government devolved into online attacks on city officials and threats to burn Black churches, according to law enforcement.

Pahokee City Manager Chandler Williamson reported Samuel J. McKinstry’s Facebook posts to the sheriff’s office in March. Williamson said McKinstry had been harassing city officials regularly since 2018 and was concerned McKinstry may follow through on his threats.

According to the arrest report, McKinstry has sent numerous threats to city officials via email and has posted threats on social media platforms.

Evidence documented by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office includes a Dec. 23 a post by McKinstry on the Pahokee Can Facebook page that read: “I’m thinking it may be time to use a little ‘force of action’ in Pahokee. Call it a 1776 moment! Let’s remind them who it is they work for. The founders didn’t argue. They picked up arms and did what was necessary. I fully believe Pahokee is approaching that moment quite rapidly!”

On June 4, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated another Facebook post in which McKinstry allegedly wrote, “Start torching their churches. If we’re going to play games, let’s play for keeps!!!”

Detectives determined McKinstry, “demonstrated that he has the military training and ability to carry out his threats” and has shown “a pattern of harassment and threats towards Pahokee city officials, the African American community in general, and the burning of ‘black churches’ on an extended and ongoing basis,” the report stated.

McKinstry was arrested Aug. 27 and charged with sending written threats to commit bodily injury, which is a second-degree felony.

For his part, McKinstry, who has boasted about being an ex-Marine, countered that he is only expressing his opinion and “consults with attorneys before posting anything on social media,” the report stated.

Facebook fact-checkers removed an Aug. 26 post from his account that identified Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization.

McKinstry is being held at the West Detention Center in Belle Glade on a $50,000 bond, records show.