FBI: Armed Neo-Nazi supporter put metro-Detroit Jewish and civil rights leaders on a hit list

Detroit (WXYZ) - In December the FBI arrested a man named Richard Schmidt.  Investigators say he is a Neo-Nazi supporter and  a convicted felon.

Now we are learning the Ohio man may have been planning to target some metro-Detroit leaders.

The FBI recently notified Detroit NAACP President Wendell Anthony and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Executive Director Scott Kaufman that their names were on a hit list found in Schmidt’s belongings.

“We get threats all the time in terms of the work that we do…NAACP, Social Justice, Civil Rights…but this was different,” said Anthony.

The FBI says it appears that Schmidt, 47, planned to attack soon. 

He should not have had any guns under the law, but when they raided his home and business they found he was heavily armed.

“We owe the FBI and our other law enforcement partners our thanks that they caught this man with 18 firearms- some of them assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition and a bulletproof vest stored in a locked room in a mall, before anyone was hurt,” said Steven M Dettelbach, United States Attorney in a press release.

“You have to realize it is the world we live in,” said Kaufman after learning he was on the man’s hit list. “There are people who don’t like us and would just as soon have us not exist, but you can’t dwell on it.”

Right now Schmidt is locked up.  He is facing numerous charges for having guns, ammunition, and body armor.  He also is accused of selling fake Nike, NFL, Reebok, and Louis Vuitton goods at a Sports Memorabilia store he owned in Bowling Green.

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