Man charged with threatening local Palestinians once shot a man in road rage incident
A Farmington Hills man arrested last week on suspicion of making a terrorist threat toward Palestinian Americans in Dearborn once pleaded guilty to shooting a man in a 2010 road rage incident.
Carl David Mintz, 41, was charged Monday in connection with the alleged threat posted last week to social media in a case that heightened fears of fallout from the Israel-Hamas war in a region with a sizable Arab American population.
Mintz is a former school board candidate who ran on "ending critical race theory," and was previously reported to have posted Islamophobic YouTube videos. He's a also a licensed Realtor whose firm tells the Free Press it "released" him Monday after he was charged.
Mintz was arrested at home after Dearborn police were anonymously tipped to the post, published Wednesday at 1 a.m. Efforts to reach him or identify his attorney were unsuccessful.
In a 2010 road rage incident that grabbed headlines, Mintz shot 20-year-old Faith Said in the arm in Oakland County.
After an initial trial that tested the limits of self defense and ended in a mistrial, Mintz ultimately pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon, according to Free Press archives.
Mintz was sentenced to 11 months probation in the road rage case, according to Oakland County court records. The following year, the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, which would have allowed him to continue to possess a gun under state law.
MLive at the time described Mintz as a YouTube commentator who uploaded "hate-filled" videos often targeting Islam.
"Islam is a cult. It is a threat. It is a threat to all Judeo-Christian nations," the outlet quoted Mintz as saying in one of the clips, while seated in front of an American flag.
His brother told WJBK (Channel 2) at the time that Mintz, then 27, had "been very angry lately," noting their parents had died in the prior decade.
Since then, Mintz appears to have aligned himself with Donald Trump. Facebook posts over the past three years convey support for the former president and opposition to mask mandates. Photos from April 2020 show him posing with a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag on the steps of the Michigan Capitol during a protest over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders.
In 2022, Mintz ran as a write-in candidate for the Farmington Hills Public Schools board on a platform that included “ending critical race theory,” according to a League of Women Voters candidate guide.
On Facebook, Mintz is described as a "a delivery driver, an auction seller and an actor" with a criminal justice degree.
State records show he's also a licensed Realtor. A representative for the firm he was with, 3DX, told the Free Press that Mintz was let go Monday, but declined to provide specifics. As of Tuesday, he was not listed in the firm's agent directory.
Police and prosecutors have declined to provide details about Mintz's alleged Oct. 11 threat. Two days before it was issued, his Facebook profile picture was changed to read “I Stand With Israel.”
“Now is the time for their support & it's also time for Israel to get aggressive & end the terrorist group called Hamas,” the caption read.
More: Rep. Rashida Tlaib helps lead Israeli-Hamas ceasefire resolution
Mintz is charged with making a false report or threat of terrorism — a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison — and malicious use of telecommunications services. A judge set bond at $500,000 and barred him from having a weapon or internet access, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release.
In announcing the charges, Prosecutor Kym Worthy noted in a statement that "Wayne County is very diverse," adding, "we take these threats very seriously."
“Threats against any person in Wayne County will not be tolerated and will be thoroughly investigated by the relevant police agency,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
The war that broke out last week prompted local authorities to boost security presence around houses of worship and schools amid safety concerns from Arab American and Jewish groups. The FBI Detroit office said agents had been in touch with local communities around Michigan while President Joe Biden said he was taking steps to address security concerns in the U.S. more broadly.
On Saturday in Illinois, a 6-year-old Arab American boy was killed and his mother seriously injured in a stabbing authorities said was an ugly response to the Israel-Hamas war.
The boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed 26 times.
More: 'We're not monsters': Community mourns 6-year-old amidst fears of anti-Muslim hate
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Carl Mintz, charged with threatening local Palestinians, fired from job
