Joseph Jakubowski. (Rock County Sheriff’s Department)
A Janesville, Wisconsin man accused of sending Donald Trump a 161-page anti-government and anti-religious manifesto has been captured in western Wisconsin, CBS News reports.
What’s adding extra alarm: Joseph Jakubowski, 32, is armed with at least 16 weapons, police say, including assault rifles. Those are guns he’s accused of stealing from a gun store, and he disappeared after the heist and after cryptically promising “revolution” on video.
WTMJ-4 in Milwaukee has posted the full manifesto. You can read it here.
“In communications prior to his disappearance, Jakubowski also allegedly made reference to his dying by the hand of Trump and expressed a desire to save everyone by taking out one politician at a time,” ABC News reports.
No one knows where Jakubowski is (the FBI has joined the manhunt), but some schools and a church have taken no chances and closed their doors, as authorities say Jakubowski, a felon, could be anywhere. No one knows whether he intends to act on the political comments he’s made, but after the gun store burglary, authorities are taking no chances. Jakubowski was criminally charged on April 11 with stealing at least 18 weapons.
Sheriff’s officials released a photo they said shows what Jakubowski might look like without hair because they think he might be camouflaging his appearance. There is now a $20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
A former FBI official described Jakubowski to NBC News as a “ticking time bomb.” The sheriff said authorities are worried that Jakubowski has some kind of “end game.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Jakubowski Is Accused of Burglarizing the Gun Store Called ‘Armageddon’ & His Own Stepfather Said He is a Threat to Police
Photo taken on 4/4/17 at 1:00 p.m. at the Mobil Gas Station, 1215 Milton Avenue, Janesville, WI. Police say it’s of Joseph Jakubowski. (Rock County Sheriff’s Department)
The name of the gun store officials say Jakubowski burglarized is fitting in light of his alleged ramblings about revolution: It’s called Armageddon.
Authorities accuse Jakubowski of burglarizing the Armageddon Gun Shop on April 4, 2017 right before he disappeared.
“A large quantity of high-end handguns and rifles were stolen and the suspect fled the scene,” the Sheriff’s Department in Rock County, Wisconsin said in a statement. The criminal complaint alleges that Jakubowski moved out of the home he shared with his sister the day of the gun store burglary, and she found a letter of apology he wrote to its owner, which said “that he wanted to purchase the guns in order to protect himself and his family, but could not do so because he was a felon, according to the complaint. The suspect then apologized for the thefts and thanked the gun shop owner for protecting Second Amendment rights.”
Before identifying the burglar as allegedly being Jakubowski, the Sheriff’s Department released photos from the heist.
The Rock County, Wisconsin Sheriff wrote on Facebook that Jakubowski should be considered, “armed and dangerous.” According to The Janesville Gazette, authorities say they also “have learned Jakubowski bought a bullet-resistant vest and helmet.”
“We continue to actively seek any tips or information related to Jakubowski. Direct sightings should be immediately reported to “911” and general tips or historical information should be directed to 1-800-CALLFBI (225-5324),” the sheriff said.
Jakubowski’s own stepfather, Don McLean, told WTMJ-TV that Jakubowski cast blame on police and the government and had been that way for years. McLean told the Milwaukee television station that he “would not want to wear a badge until this thing is over” and the family, which hadn’t talked to Jakubowski for two years, hopes he surrenders.
Here’s video of the outside of the gun store:
The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading up to his arrest. On April 10, the Sheriff’s Department released photos of Jakubowski’s tattoos to spur tips. “Investigators have also released photographs that were taken in 2014 of tattoos that Jakubowski has. These are provided to assist with identifying Jakubowski should he be sighted,” the sheriff wrote.
One woman alleged on Facebook that Jakubowski showed children how to make bombs when he was young.
“I grew up with him as a kid, he was always made fun of and picked on. He also showed us as young kids to make bombs.. he was always a strange kid,” she wrote.
That woman, Crystal Duran, explained more to Heavy in an interview, saying, “Well it was something that happened when we were small maybe between the ages of 10 or 12? But we grew up on and around Washington st in Janesville. He always got picked on when he was younger, beat up at school. But one thing that always stuck out about him was him making that bomb and teaching us how to do it.. which included a bottle, chemicals and tin foil and those would make a pretty crazy explosion .. even doing it one time at that park on Washington and sand blew up into a small child’s face.”
She expressed shock at what was going on now but lost touch with him since childhood. “It’s pretty crazy to wake up one day and to even think this would be the person he turned out to be… I just hope they find him; he definitely needs help.”
2. Jakubowski Is Accused of Writing a 161-Page Manifesto to Trump & Threatening to Shoot up Schools After Talking About ‘Revolution’
(Rock County Sheriff’s Department)
On April 6, two days after the gun store burglary, police received information that Jakubowski “has been highly agitated recently regarding a variety of political issues,” the Rock County Sheriff’s Department said. “It was further reported that he had made threats to steal weapons and to use them against public officials or at an unspecified school.”
The Sheriff’s Department says that Jakubowski wrote a 161-page manifesto and mailed it to President Trump on April 4, 2017. It “includes grievances against government and personal angst towards anyone or anything other than natural law or rule,” said the Sheriff’s Department in the statements.
Authorities released a video they say is of Jakubowski at the post office mailing the manifesto. According to The Janesville Gazette, the Sheriff said: “When you look at the (manifesto), it is a laundry list of injustices he believes government and society and the upper class have put … onto the rest of the citizens. He believes that the government, and law enforcement in particular, are acting as terrorists and are enslaving the people and creating this environment that he finds unacceptable.”
The first few minutes of the 15-minute video are black but you can hear talking. Then, you see a man police say is Jakubowski in the post office. He holds up an envelope with Trump’s name on it for the camera. Another man can be heard interacting with Jakubowski during the video. It’s not clear who he is. Some of the video simply shows the buying of postage.
“Revolution,” the man police say is Jakubowski says toward the end of the video as he walks through the parking lot. “It’s time for change.”
The other person recording the video says, “It’s D Day. Today is the day. So remember this face.”
A frame from the video.
The man identified as Jakubowski by police then says, “Game time. F- the system.”
ABC News reports that, according to the sheriff, Jakubowski’s anger in the manifesto is directed largely at authority and government in general. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the sheriff says Jakubowski allegedly “recently mentioned a plan to steal guns and use them to conduct an unspecified attack.”
Jakubowski didn’t have much of a Facebook presence; he only had 21 friends, and he followed a site focused on the hacktivist collective Anonymous. Although police said his manifesto contained anti-religion ramblings, he recently posted this photo on Facebook:
Joseph Jakubowski Facebook post.
“Let the darkness tremble, for I am a warrior,” read one post that Jakubowski shared.
Some of his Facebook friends were local, but others seem to share extreme anti government views and live in other states. One of his Facebook friends implored him to “get that puppet”:
Little else is on Jakubowski’s public page. He did post a comment on a friend’s post about a police chief trying to reimagine a criminal justice system that “strives to put itself out of business,” writing, “Drop the badge and get out if (sic) the system…if he made that choice I would fight at his side.”
One of Jakubowski’s Facebook friends wrote that he had been visited by authorities and insisted to them, “he is one of the good guys trying to save kids from you guys… the government… and that as far as I am concerned pigs protect pedophiles.”
3. More than 100 Law Enforcement Officers Are Searching for Jakubowski, Whose Car Was Found Burned
The Rock County Sheriff’s Department wrote of this photo, “This is Joseph A. Jakubowski’s vehicle that was found burned on 04/04/17 at 9:07 PM on Pennycook Lane a short distance away from the location of the Armageddon Gun Shop burglary.”
Compounding the concern – and adding a layer of mystery – is the fact that Jakubowski’s car was found burned and abandoned after the gun store robbery, and authorities say they don’t know why.
The Rock County Sheriff’s office said a massive manhunt has been launched to find Jakubowski. A tactical team searched his former home to no avail:
At 9:07 p.m. on April 4, “a vehicle fire was reported on Pennycook Lane, a short distance away” from the gun store burglary, authorities say. “At that scene was evidence of arson and it appears that the burglary and vehicle arson events are connected,” the Sheriff’s Department said. It’s not clear why the car was burned.
The registered owner of the vehicle involved in the fire is Joseph A. Jakubowski, whose last known address was in Janesville, Wisconsin, according to Sheriff’s officials, who described him as “being 5’10” tall with green eyes and brown hair. Mr. Jakubowski is considered a suspect in both incidents and is currently wanted by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office for questioning.”
The manhunt involves all levels of law enforcement.
“Staffing levels for investigators continue to be in the range of one hundred and fifty local, state and federal law enforcement officers and support personnel,” the Sheriff’s Department wrote in a statement.
“Additionally, federal authorities are using their resources to investigate any leads that may be developed outside of this local area. Currently, investigators have followed up on approximately three hundred and twenty tips and leads and still have approximately fifty that need to be resolved.”
4. Jakubowski Has a Lengthy Criminal History That Includes Trying to Disarm a Police Officer
Another surveillance photo of Jakubowski released by the Rock County Sheriff’s Department.
According to Wisconsin court records, Jakubowski has had a lot of contact with law enforcement. He has an extremely long list of traffic violations that take up pages on the court website. He was cited for disorderly conduct in 2014.
This is only the first page of his criminal history on the Wisconsin court records site; “TR” cases are traffic cases:
He hasn’t been in serious trouble with the law since 2008. However, that year he was convicted of a felony for disarming a peace officer and misdemeanor bail jumping, according to the court records. He received probation. The criminal complaint says “Jakubowski repeatedly pulled on an officer’s holstered sidearm during a fight,” according to The Janesville Gazette.
In 2008, he was convicted of misdemeanor battery. The court records say the case was domestic violence related, and Jakubowski stood “mute” at his initial appearance.
He was also convicted of battery in 2003 as well as felony marijuana dealing and a charge of maintaining a drug house was dismissed but read in at sentencing, court records show. In 2001, he was convicted of resisting an officer and battery.
In one case, the judge ordered Jakubowski to take “all Prescribed Medications,” court records show. He also paid a fine for a criminal traffic case for operating after revocation of his driver’s license, third offense.
One man wrote on Facebook, “Based on all the other repetitive violations this guy has made why is he still NOT in a prison?”
5. A Church in the Area Closed After Seeing a Person Who Looked Like Jakubowski & He Worked as a Roofer
(Rock County Sheriff’s Department)
The Wisconsin community is on edge, as possible sightings of Jakubowski occur. The Rock County Sheriff’s Department wrote that authorities are concerned about the safety of churches in particular.
“As a result of anti-religion sentiment depicted in Jakubowski’s manifesto, local law enforcement has increased patrols at churches within their jurisdictions. No disturbances have been reported at any local church,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
“However, law enforcement did receive a suspicious circumstance report near St. Mary’s Church, on East Wall Street in Janesville. A male subject was reported to be placing weapons into the trunk of a vehicle there. Local law enforcement, supplemented by tactical resources responded and made contact with a resident who lived near there. The resident explained that he was preparing to go target shooting. A tactical team conducted a consent search of his residence in the 400 block of Wall Street and his story was verified.”
The Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, closed on April 9 as a result of the manhunt. “It was previously reported that a suspicious subject who looked similar to Jakubowski had stopped by the church on Thursday and that was reported as the primary reason for the cancellation of their religious services today. Investigators have not been able to verify if the suspicious person from Thursday was actually Jakubowski,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
Jakubowski appears to have a history as a roofer – when he worked.
A man on Facebook wrote of Jakubowski, “the hardest worker ive ever seen lay a roof and the best roofer i know.” The Janesville Gazette reported he was unemployed and had worked retail jobs. A woman wrote on Facebook, “Joe was my first boyfriend ever my high school love…he was not a bad or weird person…something happened to him and he snapped…i pray he doesnt do anything stupid.”