Craig Jungwirth
The man who set the south central Florida LGBT community on edge by posting threats on Facebook that he would stage an attack that would make the June 12 shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando look tame has been arrested.
Peacock Panache, an LGBT blog, reports that a Broward County judge held an emergency hearing Saturday, Sept. 3, to issue an arrest warrant for Craig Jungwirth, 50. Jungwirth’s attorney said his client lives in Orange County and didn’t have time to get to the hearing, and Jungwirth was arrested for driving with a suspended license by troopers in Osceola County.
Jungwirth faces charges for violating conditions on a bond stemming from a 2014 incident in which he allegedly defrauded a Wilton Manors innkeeper by refusing to pay his bill for food and drinks, and from an incident in May in which he is accused of damaging windows a Rumors Bar & Grill, a gay bar in Wilton Manors. The judge said that the bond violations coupled with the failure to appear in court Saturday and the “escalating concerns of public safety” provided grounds for the arrest warrant.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is also investigating the Pulse shooting, began investigating threats Jungwirth posted on Facebook on Aug. 30, the day the threats were reported.
Jungwirth, who recently has been accused of taking over Florida’s Beach Bear Weekend and using it to scam money for the LGBT community, reportedly has a lengthy criminal history that includes numerous restraining orders filed against him. On Aug. 30, he posted several threatening comments to David Herbert’s Facebook page, including this one: “My events are selling out cause you faggots are total patsies. None of you deserve to live. If you losers thought the Pulse nightclub shooting was bad, wait till you see what I’m planning for Labor Day.”
He also said that since gay men “aren’t dying from AIDS anymore, I have a better solution to exterminate you losers,” and, “I’m gonna be killing you fags faster than cops kill niggers. It’s time to clean up Wilton Manors from all you AIDS infested losers.”
The FBI is urging anyone victimized by Jungwirth to contact them immediately at 754-703-2000.
