Mourners visit the memorial outside the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 31, 2018, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where eleven Jews were killed in a mass shooting. Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

By Jacob Kornbluh August 10, 2023

A self-proclaimed reverend who identifies himself as a white supremacist was arrested on Thursday for threats against the jurors and witnesses in the Pittsburgh synagogue trial, the Department of Justice said.

The jury voted last week to sentence to death Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. The attack was the deadliest act of antisemitism in American history.

Hardy Carroll Lloyd, a 45-year-old resident from Follansbee, West Virginia, was accused of posting threatening messages toward the jury on social media platforms, via email, and as comments on websites linked to the trial of Bowers. Additionally, Lloyd allegedly distributed stickers in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in Pittsburgh directing people to a website where he published his antisemitic messages and threats.

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The antisemitic messages included, “Walk down the streets of every city in the US and shoot every last jew they see,” “All jews must be murdered. The jew race MUST be wiped out…So, target jews as BOWERS did…” and “Shed jew blood till none is left to spill!! Bowers showed us the way. Time to follow him.”

Lloyd was charged with obstruction of the due administration of justice, transmitting threats in interstate and foreign commerce, and witness tampering. He is being held without bond and could face a total of 35 years in prison if convicted.

“Jury trials are a hallmark of the American justice system and attempts to intimidate witnesses or jurors will be met with a strong response,” U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said in a statement.

Lloyd is a convicted felon, who once lived in the Squirrel Hill and South Hills neighborhoods, and was previously charged with murder, and imprisoned for illegal firearms possession. He has advocated white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideology and repeatedly called for attacks on Jews, including threats against the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.

He was previously sentenced to two years in prison in 2019 for violating the terms of his probation that banned him from social media and communicating with anyone to promote terrorism. He had posted on social media and urged “lone wolves” to kill Jews. He was released from prison in 2020.

The Federation said it worked with the Secure Community Network (SCN), the official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America, in tracking and monitoring Lloyd’s posting and activities and shared that with the relevant law enforcement officials.

Jeff Finkelstein, chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said in a statement that the community appreciated the FBI’s “ongoing commitment” to protect Jews from threats. “We are made stronger when we work together on our collective security,” he said.

This post has been updated to include more inforamtion about the suspect. 

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