How Jewish community safety group tracked down suspect linked to extremist threat in Reseda
RESEDA, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A tip from a community security group led to the arrest of a Reseda man who allegedly "called for the mass murder of Jews."
Ryan Scott Bradford, 34, was arrested last month after several agencies raided his home near White Oak Avenue and Saticoy Street.
He's been charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of ammunition.
During the search, authorities recovered 116 rounds of ammunition, which Bradford is prohibited from possessing due to a 2012 burglary conviction, according to U.S. Attorney's Office.
"We found a great deal of Nazi propaganda, including posters of Adolf Hitler in his possession, and we found statements that he written about causing violence against people of the Jewish faith," said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada.
READ MORE | Reseda man who was target of FBI raid accused of calling for mass murder of Jews
Eyewitness News learned the Community Security Initiative (CSI) - which is led by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles - was tracking Bradford. Analysts are constantly monitoring the internet and other places looking for anti-Semitic threats.
The goal is to prevent attacks before they happen.
"We have a team of people who are going through this data constantly; everything we do is open source information," said Joella Dunn-Bernstein with CSI. "We are seeing a lot of odd patterns of hate but overall, it's still an increase in hate so it's concerning to us."
The CSI first found out about Bradford in March 2022 and noticed that his activity started getting more and more serious.
"We discovered the suspect was making ghost guns with using 3D printers, and we saw that he also has Nazi swastika on it, which increased the level," said Larry Mead with CSI.
The group then shared the information with law enforcement. CSI said it's seen a sharp increase in threats and other activity online.
Rabbi Noah Farkas with the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles called it "a reemergence of antisemitism."
"Just in the last couple of years alone there has been a 200% increase in anti-Semitic incidents, and crimes against Jewish people," he said.
CSI also offers safety and security training. It wants to reach out to other groups and organizations to raise awareness and keep people safe.
"We developed this system to help protect the Jewish community, but if there are other vulnerable communities feel that they need this, we will invite you into partnerships," said Farkas.
