California man sentenced for threats against NC synagogues, law enforcement

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — A California man has been sentenced to more than a year in prison for making violent threats against synagogues, law enforcement officials, and others in North Carolina, federal prosecutors announced Friday.

Kevin Day Dunlow, 62, of Huntington Beach, California, will serve 15 months in prison, followed by six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to two counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce.

According to court records, between May 1 and May 16, 2024, Dunlow made a series of threatening calls targeting multiple people and institutions, including a church in northeastern North Carolina, two synagogues in Raleigh and Durham, law enforcement officers, and an elected official.

In one incident on May 1, Dunlow called the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and claimed there was a bomb, reportedly telling a dispatcher, “we’re going to kill you.” Days later, on May 10, he called a rabbi just before evening services and said, “Jews didn’t deserve to live… I’m coming to the Temple to kill all the Jews and the children.”

“Threats of violence against the Jewish community and law enforcement officials are not only despicable, they are also a grave federal crime that we take seriously,” said Acting US Attorney Daniel P. Bubar. “I commend the FBI’s quick and decisive response.”

FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. said Dunlow “targeted law enforcement, elected officials and their families, even local faith leaders, spewing vicious threats over the phone.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force based in Raleigh investigated the case. US District Judge Terrence W. Boyle handed down the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gabriel J. Diaz and Erin Blondel prosecuted the case.