Missouri man charged with phone threats to Georgia mosque

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A federal grand jury has indicted a Missouri man with making threatening phone calls to a mosque in Georgia.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court charges 49-year-old Preston Q. Howard with placing 10 threatening calls to the Islamic Society of Augusta, Georgia, between June and August.

The indictment says Howard phoned in a series of threats to “blow up the mosque” and “shoot and kill Muslims,” as well as to “behead” worshippers and set them on fire after dousing them with gasoline.

U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine is prosecuting the case in the Southern District of Georgia. Court records don’t list an attorney for Howard.