An Outer Sunset man was taken into custody Tuesday, after police say he was responsible for a tweet calling for the beheading of acting San Francisco Police department Chief Toney Chaplin.
It was just this past Saturday when SFPD "became aware of criminal threats" made against Chaplin on Twitter, police spokesperson Officer Carlos Manfredi says. The threat, as previously reported, was a tweet that read "let Us behead this black man please!" and contained a photo of Chaplin beside a photo of a guillotine and a photo of a sign reading “White Trade Only.”
An SFPD investigation revealed that the man allegedly behind the Twitter account is 60-year-old San Francisco resident Donald Eric Hoganson, a resident of the 2600 block of Ortega Street (which is between 33rd and 34th Avenues in the Outer Sunset), Manfredi says.
Following his identification, Hoganson was taken into custody, and "a search warrant was approved by a judge and served at the location."
This isn't Hoganson's first brush with the law, according to the Chron, as "In 2002, Hoganson was indicted for allegedly threatening to kill an FBI agent outside the Sacramento office." The Chron reports that Hoganson, who reportedly suffers from schizophrenia, "was determined not competent to stand trial, and his prosecution was deferred...The indictment against him was eventually dismissed."
Hoganson's alleged Twitter account, @BethesdaSavior, remains online as of Wednesday morning. It's full of, as you might expect, swastikas, photos of lynchings, racist rhetoric and other things that would cause those who can see your screen distress and is not safe for work. Here's a link to it if you must go look.
He also appears to have a wordpress.com blog, the most recent entry of which was posted on July 18 and reads in part that "I wish that We could find a very fast way to eliminate most of the human race; I far as I am concerned; they are just useless undesirables! We, Isalam, Bethesda & Mizpah, don’t need these insane zombies alive."
Multiple news organizations report that the windows of Hoganson's home are covered in racist messages, including (as you can see above) one that reads "The Outer Sunset Stinks!"
"The neighbor next door...needs a little help," area resident Michael Foley told KTVU, saying that the suspect has been known to scream racial slurs from the street corner. Helen, a resident in Hoganson's building, told KRON 4 that a week and a half ago, Hoganson had left a note for her and others in the building that asked "Are the Chinese naked savages like the niggers?"
"If you don't like Chinese people, why do you live in a Chinese house?" Helen asked. The "community has a lot of Chinese people. He don't like it!"
As of Tuesday evening, Hoganson had yet to be booked, and Manfredi said that "We are still gathering evidence and conducting interviews in preparation of presenting the case to the District Attorney's Office."
According to KTVU, Hoganson is expected to eventually face hate crime charges, as well as charges related to the threats he made to Chaplin. And if he does, this this wouldn't be the first time social media posts threatening police led to an arrest: Just last week, it was reported that arrests have been made in Detroit, Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey following social media posts that appeared to pose a threat to officers.
"The KKK has been passing out fliers in SF, we've had assassinations of officers [in Dallas and Baton Rouge]," Chaplin told NBC Bay Area.
"Any threat of officers I'm going to take seriously, even if it's me."
Previously: SFPD Investigating Death Threat Against Acting Police Chief
Criticizing Police On Social Media Leads To Arrests Following Dallas Shooting
KKK Confirms That Those SF Recruitment Fliers Are For Real