Iowan accused of making online threats against Boston mosque

BOSTON - Authorities Wednesday charged an Iowa man with making online threats against a Boston mosque, including threats to shoot and kill Muslims.

A federal criminal complaint accuses Gerald Wayne Ledford, 57, of Clinton, of making threatening posts on the Facebook page of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, including the post that 'we will destroy you” and photos of a person carrying a gun. Investigators think the threats were posted Oct. 19, 2014.

In addition to those posts, Ledford's own Facebook profile included threatening statements dating to October, when two men inspired by radical jihadist beliefs launched separate fatal attacks on Canadian soldiers in Ottawa and outside Montreal.

Ledford faces a charge of transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure a person. If convicted, he faces five years in prison.

Ledford has been convicted in the past of threatening with a firearm, according to Iowa Courts online. He pleaded in 2013 to assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.

Trish Mehaffey of The Gazette contributed to this report.