Man who threatened Harvard’s Black commencement ceremony pleads guilty

A white man who threatened to bomb Harvard University and shoot attendees of a 2017 commencement for Black graduates, pleaded guilty to criminal charges on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts, The Harvard Crimson reports.

Nicholas Zuckerman, of Arizona, faces two counts of “transmitting in interstate and foreign commerce a threat to injure the person of another—and of singling out the people he threatened because of their ‘race and color’.”

READ MORE: Video shows brutal beating of Black Harvard student by police “Help me, Jesus!”

Investigators believe that on May 13, 2017, Zuckerman commented on a post on Harvard’s Instagram account calling for “violence and death” at the University’s first Black commencement. The ceremony, held in late May 2017, was the first for the institution and meant to celebrate Black achievement across Harvard’s schools.

“If the blacks only ceremony happens, then I encourage violence and death at it,” Zuckerman wrote in the post. “I’m thinking two automatics with extendo clips.”

In another threatening post, Zuckerman also wrote: “#bombharvard and end their pro-black agenda,” he wrote.

While the Black commencement ceremony was approved by the university, it was actually a student-run event, and never meant to replace the main commencement ceremony at which graduates of all races received their diplomas.

Zuckerman reportedly commented “#bombharvard” on several users’ posts at least 11 times over a four-minute period, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

READ MORE: Banned from teaching? Harvard Law School drops Brett Kavanaugh from faculty

The university learned of the posts after “a concerned citizen” reported them to the Harvard University Police Department on May 13th. The following day, a HUPD officer “viewed and documented” the comments. Zuckerman was arrested in June 2018, more than a year after the incident occurred.

Under the plea agreement, Zuckerman will serve 12-18 months in prison; serve 36 months of supervised release; and pay a fine ranging from $5,500 to $55,000, a mandatory special assessment of $200, and restitution in an amount to be determined at sentencing, the outlet reports.

Another hearing is scheduled May 23, 2019 to determine what the consequences for his actions will be. Zuckerman could serve five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

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