Man Jailed for Bringing Guns to Anti-Islam Event

A South Dakota man who carried guns into an anti-Islam speaking event and livestreamed a Facebook video from outside afterward has been sentenced. Ehab Jaber, of Sioux Falls, pleaded guilty in July to a federal firearms charge. On Monday, US District Judge Lawrence Piersol sentenced the 46-year-old to seven months imprisonment with served time suspended, seven months in community or home detention, and three years of probation, the AP reports. Federal prosecutors say Jaber aimed to spark a violent reaction when he attended the April event with firearms in tow. "Be scared," he said in his livestreamed video, displaying the five guns in his car.

Jaber told the court he was "heartbroken" to see so many people attend the "Sabotaging America: Islam's March Toward Supremacy" event at a venue where he used to work as a waiter and bartender, the Argus Leader reports. "I was heartbroken to see that many people at a hotel on a Sunday," he said. "I served them food, I served them drink. I was heartbroken, I wasn't angry." His attorneys argued that he had a right both to carry the guns and to speak his mind on social media. Jaber faces separate state charges of making terroristic threats and violating his bail conditions by testing positive for methamphetamine.

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