A defense lawyer said in court Monday that federal prosecutors are alleging a Chesterton man’s threat to the U.S. Naval Academy was a “specific reaction to Charlie Kirk’s assassination.”
Jackson Fleming, 22, is charged with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate communication by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Indiana.
He could face up to five years in federal prison, according to a release. His next hearing is Thursday — where lawyers are expected to have finalized conditions for his release.
At a detention hearing — where prosecutors typically outline parts of their case — Fleming’s defense attorney Jonathan Bedi said they weren’t alleging Fleming had a “grudge” against the Naval Academy, rather a “reaction” to the death of Kirk, a conservative activist who was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
The accusations were from “one chat on one particular day,” he said.
After the hearing, Bedi declined to elaborate on specifics, noting the affidavit is still sealed.
What specifically Fleming wrote is not immediately clear. His posts triggered an hours-long lockdown on Sept. 11. In the confusion, a midshipman and a police officer traded fire, wounding each other.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis Sohn said in court that Fleming used Yodel — an anonymous chat app commonly used by midshipmen — to send the unspecified threat, changing his location from Chesterton to the Annapolis area. It appeared Fleming deleted the app by the next day, but the FBI found evidence of app notifications dated Sept. 11.
In an Instagram message as police were closing in, Fleming wrote he “might have to delete all socials,” later adding he felt “so sick bringing this problem to (my family).”
A Naval Academy spokeswoman confirmed he was a midshipman from June 30, 2021 to Jan 5, 2024.
Sohn said in court that Fleming had been kicked out of the Naval Academy for drugs.
At some point, he told two people he was found with substances, including mushrooms and anabolic steroids and had purchased fake urine online to try to pass a drug screening.
His father, Randy Fleming, a Portage criminal lawyer, and mother Dianna Fleming, testified they would abide by the court’s restrictions, for example, if ordered to remove devices to try to cut him off from online access. They also pledged to report him if he broke the law.
Bedi said in court that Fleming had a “bright future” and hadn’t broken the law before this point and bounced back from his expulsion by graduating recently from Purdue University.
Magistrate Judge Abizer Zanzi said some conditions of release may be mental health treatment, cutting off his access to the internet, and home incarceration.
A Chesterton High School graduate, Fleming was profiled as a star defensive end according to an Aug. 17, 2020 Post-Tribune article. He told a sports reporter that he planned to go to either the Army or Navy’s military academy after high school.
“One of the highest ways to serve one’s country is to go to one of the military academies,” he said.
About 90 minutes after the lockdown took effect, the Naval Academy’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 Associated Press contributed.