Joseph Miner, 29, who used to be a track star in Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday for attempting to purchase illegal assault rifles with defaced serial numbers from an undercover FBI agent. According to the FBI, the weapons in question included an AR-15-style ghost gun with a silencer, a Mossberg 500 shotgun, a fully automatic Colt M4 carbine assault rifle and a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
Miner was arrested on Tuesday together with his neighbor, Daniel Jou, 40, in a hotel room near La Guardia Airport, after they paid for the weapons, as well as for ammunition and high-capacity magazines, the sum total of $3,290.
According to the FBI, Miner’s Instagram account, under the name “Souljagoy” (cute play on rapper Soulja Boy and Goy), included posts that were entered into evidence show Miner doing the Heil Hitler with the caption: “God I hate women jews and [the N word],” Miner holding a knife with the caption: “overthrowing [Jews] is our Christian duty,” cheering the Hanukkah attack on Jews in Monsey (“ngl [not gonna lie] this is pretty [expletive] exciting,” and generally praising Adolf Hitler. On January 22, Miner posted a photograph of the entrance to a Jewish Community Center in Queens.
The two suspects are being charged with an unlawful possession of firearms and held without bail.
Benjamin N. Cardozo High School is a public high school in Bayside, Queens, operated by the New York City Department of Education. The school was named for Benjamin N. Cardozo, who served as justice of the US Supreme Court and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals.
The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is the law school of Yeshiva University, located in Greenwich Village. Cardozo is currently ranked 52nd by U.S. News and World Report ranking of law schools.