Jacob Muriithi, second Oklahoma man arrested after threats to behead co-worker, bad joke?
A second Muslim man in Oklahoma has been arrested after allegedly threatening to behead his co-worker after police confirmed the threat. The man, and possibly the victim, claim this may have been them joking around, has been charged.
Jacob Mugambi Muriithi, 30, was taken into custody after his unidentified female co-worker told police that he threatened to cut her head off. Both work at Bellevue Nursing Home in Oklahoma City, but had never worked together until last week.
According to The Oklahoman, the co-worker said that Muriithi, a Kenyan native, advised her that he represents ISIS and that the group kills Christians. When she asked why, he responded, “This is just what we do.”
“The victim said Jacob asked her what time she got off work and she replied by asking him in a joking manner if he was going to kill her,” a police report outlines. “Jacob told the victim, ‘Yes,’ he was going to cut her head off. The victim asked Jacob what he was going to cut her head off with and he said, ‘A blade,’ then told her after he did it he was going to post it on Facebook.”
“The victim said [Mr. Muriithi] was serious when speaking and never made any statements that he was joking or playing around,” , the Oklahoman noted as the man repeated the threat in front of another employee.
Muriithi is being held in the Oklahoma County Jail on $1 million dollars bail.
The incident follows an actual beheading that occurred in Oklahomaafter a man who recently converted to Islam decapitated his former co-worker and stabbed another before being shot by a company executive. Full story HERE
Muriithi was charged Thursday with the crime of “terrorism hoax,” which is a violation of the state’s anti-terrorism act.
UPDATE Via The Oklahoman:
“It appears to be a case that the parties were mutually having a conversation and mutually joking,” defense attorney Christian Zeaman said.
“It sounds just like they were mutually having fun with each other. They were both joking. I think the (police) report really indicates that. …I’m investigating this hot and heavy. …He is a Catholic, he goes to church, he has the support of the community. It was never a terrorist hoax,” the attorney said.