Brevard men connected to Neo-Nazi group following violent Orange County protest, remain jailed
Two members of a self-described neo-Nazi group remained booked in the Brevard County Jail Complex after being arrested last week in connection with an anti-Semitic demonstration that turned violent in Orange County.
Both men, Joshua Terrell, 46, and Jason Brown, 47, have connections to Brevard, with Brown having a Cape Canaveral address listed on an arrest warrant. Terrell was described as being homeless but living in Cape Canaveral, reports show.
The pair, along with Burt Colucci, 45, Lakeland, was taken into custody on Feb. 4. Terrell and Colucci – described as the leader of the Kissimmee-based group – were charged with battery with a hate crime enhancement, court records show. Brown was charged with grand theft.
The incident happened on Jan. 29 along Alafaya Trail and Waterford Lakes Parkway. Orange County sheriff’s investigators said the three men were part of a group of 20 demonstrators, with some wearing Nazi insignias and yelling anti-Semitic slurs at passing cars.
A driver told investigators the protesters spit in his direction, with some of the spittle falling through the sunroof of his car. The driver, wearing a Star of David necklace and displaying an Israeli flag at the rear of his vehicle, then got out of his vehicle and walked toward the protesters.
The group shouted slurs, with Colucci spitting on him, reports show.
"We hate Jews," the crowd began to chant as Terrell waved a large flag with a swastika - the symbol of the Nazi party. Someone then yelled, 'beat the (expletive) out of him,' with Colucci standing nearby.
Brown was also seen on video shouting anti-Semitic slurs on a megaphone, reports show.
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The driver, who pushed Colucci, said he was then surrounded by other group members, punched and pepper-sprayed before other motorists stepped in to help him get to safety. Investigators said at one point, Brown was able to get the driver’s iPhone, later found damaged.
No arrests were made that day and the group left the area. The group later returned to a nearby highway overpass but was disbanded by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Orlando demonstrations also came after hundreds of anti-Semitic flyers were distributed in portions of Indialantic and Melbourne Beach and nearly two months after a group stood along an overpass in Port St. John and waved anti-Semitic banners and signs.
Other mass distributions of the fliers, which blame the Jewish community for COVID and other conspiratorial falsehoods, were also distributed in South Florida. Investigators have not linked the group to those incidents or distributions.
Orange County investigators issued warrants for the three to be arrested. Brown appeared before a Brevard County judge Monday and was denied bond in connection with charges in other unrelated cases. Terrell, arrested Friday, remains held on a $10,000 bond at the Brevard County Jail. Colucci, arrested in Orange County, was released from jail in Orlando after posting bond.
In 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which investigates and follows extremist groups across the political spectrum, listed 68 hate groups in Florida.
J.D. Gallop is a Criminal Justice/Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Two men connected to Neo-Nazi group protest, remain jailed in Brevard
