Warwick Man's Antisemitic Text Tirade Leads To Charges: DA

WARWICK TOWNSHIP, PA — Authorities in Bucks County have charged a Warwick Township man with ethnic intimidation and harassment he allegedly sent antisemitic images and videos via to a Jewish man on Thanksgiving.

Hunter Robert-William Ryan, 21, was charged Tuesday.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Buckingham Township Police, Ryan sent the victim images of a Nazi flag and symbols, photos and a video of Adolf Hitler, and an image of Anne Frank followed by a photo of ashes.

The messages were sent over a period of nearly 12 hours, despite the victim asking Ryan to stop, police said. The victim got the first message around noon on Nov. 29. The final message was sent just before 1 a.m. Nov. 30.

After receiving the first message – a Nazi symbol followed by “hahaha” – the victim asked Ryan why he had sent it. Ryan responded, “because it’s funny,” the affidavit said.

The victim and Ryan knew each other, police said.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27

“While we review these incidents on a case-by-case basis, generally hate speech becomes criminal when it is implicitly harassing or threatening towards someone else. If you are threatened in a text message or on social media, please don’t engage. Take screen shots of the offending messages and report them to the police," District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said.