FLORIDA: Feds Drop “Weak Case” Against Gay Man Accused Of Making Terror Threat Against Gay Bars

The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports:

Federal prosecutors are dropping the criminal case against a man accused of issuing a Facebook threat to “exterminate” gay people in South Florida, according to a court document filed Tuesday. The decision to drop the case against Craig Jungwirth comes about six weeks after prosecutors publicly acknowledged in court that the evidence against him was “weak.”

Jungwirth, 50, of Orlando and formerly of Wilton Manors, has been jailed since early September. He was arrested on allegations that he posted an online threat that read, in part: “None of you deserve to live. If you losers thought the Pulse nightclub shooting was bad, wait till you see what I’m planning for Labor Day.”

The Pulse nightclub in Orlando was the scene of a June 12 mass shooting that left 49 people dead and at least 68 injured. Jungwirth came under federal scrutiny Aug. 30 when a tipster sent law enforcement a screenshot of the alleged threat, which appeared to have been posted by Jungwirth, according to court documents.

Prosecutor Marc Anton filed a one-paragraph document Tuesday, announcing that prosecutors are dismissing the indictment, which was issued by a grand jury in late September. Prosecutors did not elaborate on the reasons for the decision in court records.

At a Nov. 15 hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Anton told a judge that prosecutors had determined the evidence against Jungwirth was “weak” and circumstantial. But he said at the time that investigators were continuing to work on the case.

Investigators were not able to link the alleged threat to Jungwirth, who they said has about 59 Facebook profiles. One theory they were considering was the possibility that he had posted the threat from another profile.

Jungwirth apparently still faces charges of “criminal mischief” at a Wilton Manors gay bar and not paying for a meal at a nearby restaurant.