Va. man sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempted 2023 mass shooting after posting online threats

A man from Virginia was sentenced to 25 years in prison for posting online threats and then traveling to a church with the intent to carry out a mass shooting in 2023, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rui Jiang, 36, of Fairfax, was convicted by a jury in March after he transmitted threats online and carried weapons to the Park Valley Church in Haymarket on Sept. 23, 2023. He was also convicted of a hate crime, and five additional years of supervised release.

“This was the closest of calls. But for the determination of a concerned citizen … and the steadfast vigilance of the church security team, this would have ended in unimaginable tragedy,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the press release. “The Justice Department will relentlessly investigate and prosecute attacks on our nation’s houses of worship.”

Read more: WTOP