Ex-NJ Marine Threatened To Kill White People In Mass Shooting , Authorities Say

MERCER COUNTY, NJ – A Trenton man was arrested and charged with threatening to kill white people in a social media rant, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Joshua Cobb, 23, was arrested on Friday and charged by complaint with one count of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce.

According to documents, on Dec. 17, 2022, Cobb used a social media platform to post a message, stating he wanted to create mayhem in the white community. In later posts, he expressed hopes of progressing to a serial killer.

During an interview with law enforcement, Cobb admitted to writing the posts and provided detailed information on locations he had considered as possible targets for his attack. They included a Jersey Strong gym and an Aldi grocery store in Robbinsville. Cobb also discussed with authorities his access to guns and idolized other mass shooters.

Cobb joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2023 and began basic training in June 2023. He was stationed in California until his recent discharge, Sellinger said.

"The reason i specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles. Same way I will never understand their struggles, but I don’t care to. I want to erase them. All of them really, but in this case as many as I possibly can,” Cobbs wrote on social media.

“As of today I have officially began planning my attack. It is going to take place in 2023 in the state of New Jersey, I have not chosen a exact date but I am going to be sure it is close to an important holiday to their race.”

In his post, Cobb said he already acquired two firearms he planned to use for the attack, including scouting out the entry and exit points of the locations.

Cobb posted several such threatening messages on social media, saying in one post, “There is no way out for me. The only way out is bloodshed.”

When authorities searched Cobb’s cell phone they found additional notes from April and May 2023 detailing his homicidal ideations, Sellinger said. “My rampage will soon happen… I plan to now continue accumulating the necessary equipment needed to execute. Once all equipment is in, time will then tell. You will all die,” he wrote in one such message.

Cobb’s phone also contained notes on how to bring guns into New Jersey, Sellinger said.

Authorities traced the posts to at least one email account and I.P. address associated with Cobb, according to the complaint.

The charge of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce is punishable by a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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