A Chesterton man is accused of sending a social media threat that caused officials to lockdown the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland last week.
Jackson Fleming, 23, was charged with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate communication, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Indiana. Fleming’s charge was approved by a federal magistrate on Sunday.
He was arrested Friday and is currently jailed, records show. A detention hearing is set for Sept. 22. The complaint is a temporary charge that must be followed by an information or indictment formally bringing federal charges, the release stated.
The Associated Press reported the academy in Annapolis, Maryland went on lockdown Thursday after officials learned of an “anonymous chat platform” post.
“Jack is a young man with his entire future ahead of him,” his lawyer Jonathan Bedi said in an emailed statement.
“He recently graduated from college and is planning to attend law school,” he wrote. “We intend to fight these charges in court vigorously. No one, including Jack, should be judged by a mere accusation from the government. We are prepared to mount the strongest possible defense, and I am confident that when the complete facts emerge, Jack will be vindicated.”
Bedi did not answer a question on Fleming’s connection to the U.S. Naval Academy. The Baltimore Banner, an online news outlet, reported Fleming was a former midshipman, which could not be independently verified.
A woman who answered the phone in the U.S. Naval Academy public affairs office said the director would return a phone call by the end of business day, but no response was received by press time.
A Facebook profile with the same name and hometown as Fleming appears to depict a man in a short-sleeved black military uniform with a comment from a relative that appeared to show he started in 2021.
About 90 minutes after the lockdown took effect, the school’s deputy commandant emailed students, telling them that as law enforcement worked to secure the school, a midshipman mistook police for a threat and engaged them, according to the official.
The official added that the midshipman was armed with a parade rifle and struck an officer in the head. Law enforcement, in turn, fired on the midshipman, striking him in the arm. The account was reported earlier by The New York Times.
Hours later, at 9:40 p.m., a Navy statement confirmed that there was no threat of an active shooter and that one person was flown by helicopter with injuries but was in stable condition. The lockdown was lifted shortly after midnight.
The wounded midshipman has been released from the hospital, the academy said in a statement Friday.
The Associated Press contributed.