Thomas Develin is seen here sniffing a rifle. “This one smells like dead Jews,” he said as he sniffed the firearm, prosecutors said. (Image: U.S. Department of Justice)
A bigoted former security guard will spend six years in prison after pleading guilty to threats in an Ohio state prison.
Thomas M. Develin, 25, will spend time in the Buckeye State while concurrently serving a separate five-year, 11-month federal sentence for firearm charges. Prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice had sought seven years and three months in prison.
“Because Mr. Develin transferred firearms to people he had reason to believe intended to use or dispose of the firearms unlawfully, the Court should apply the enhancement for a defendant who ‘engaged in the trafficking of firearms,”” they wrote.
Federal investigators previously said they discovered 25 guns and a 3D printer when executing a search warrant at his home in March 2022. That printer was used to make untraceable homemade weapons or “ghost guns,” authorities said.
Develin was demonstrably antisemitic but also worked as a security guard for a company providing services for synagogues and Jewish schools. Federal authorities referenced Develin’s activity on Discord and Snapchat. They described that activity as rife with antisemitic, white nationalist, racist, and misogynist content. His social media activity was infused with a fixation on firearms, ideations about committing terrorist attacks, and visceral bigotry.
“This one smells like dead Jews,” he said as he sniffed a rifle in a Snapchat video on Nov. 21, 2021.
That same day, he made a Snapchat video titled “Jewish Women,” authorities said. In it, he held a gun “aimed in the direction of unknown individuals.”
Federal authorities said they could not identify the targets, but they noted that records from Develin’s employer, Sahara Global Security, indicated that he was working at Temple Israel at the time of the video.
Prosecutors said Develin “made antisemitic and violent statements while employed to provide security services at local synagogues and Jewish schools.”
His violent ideations also delved into anti-Black and misogynist content, according to documents.
“We’re about to hunt n—— on night patrol in Columbus,” Develin wrote in a chat group on Discord on Feb. 5, 2022. “Someone’s gotta work the beat and hold the line.”
He made multiple posts supportive of raping women, documents stated. For example, he posted an image in which rape is compared as favorable to sex.
“I’ve become so radicalized against women that I’ve forgotten how to act rationally around them when one of them decides it’s a good idea to speak to me,” Develin posted in another message dated Feb. 8, 2022.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
