VALLEY CITY, OH — A Valley City man is scheduled to be in federal court Friday after the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force said he posted threats to a Lorain County mosque on social media.
Records show 20-year-old Wyatt Brzoska was arrested Saturday on a federal weapons charge and for making threatening communications.
“We are grateful to law enforcement for their swift and decisive action and preventing what would have been a tragic act of violence,” The Ummah Center management wrote in a statement Thursday. “We are in communication with law enforcement while reviewing our own security measures.”
“Honestly it’s quite disturbing,” said Faten Odeh of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of Council on American Islamic Relations. “It’s the holiest month of the year for Muslims and tomorrow is our special holiday marking the end of Ramadan. We’re expecting families to be gathering at their places of worship, at mosques. It’s casting a cloud over our special day.”
According to a criminal complaint, the FBI received a tip in November regarding a “potential mass shooting threat.”
Investigators wrote that they traced the threat to Brzoska’s TikTok account.
An agent wrote that the matter was turned over to the Medina County Sheriff’s Office, which then closed the case after Brzoska said the threats were a joke and that he was just trying to upset people and get a reaction.
But according to the criminal complaint, days later, Brzoska was back on social media.
This time, according to an FBI agent, Brzoska referenced the 2019 mosque shootings in New Zealand that killed 51 people.
According to court documents, law enforcement again interviewed Brzoska, who again said the post was just a joke that he thought was funny.
Agents said Brzoska admitted not liking Muslims because of things said online.
The FBI agent wrote that Brzoska said he planned to try and stay offline more. Odeh called the pattern “concerning.”
“How many people have to come out and say stop it until it escalates and becomes a very serious thing?” she said.
Then, last week, another tip came into the FBI, according to an agent.
This time, the tip concerned videos indicating someone may be planning an attack on a mosque in Columbia Station, according to court documents.
An FBI agent wrote that in one video, Brzoska dressed in what resembled military fatigues and zoomed in on a mosque.
The agent wrote that the text on the video read, “You will feel it.”
The agent went on to write that two days later, Brzoska posted 12 videos on TikTok, including images showing him holding a long gun, wearing a tactical vest with loaded rifle magazines and a recording of what the agent said sounded like a 911 call in which a woman reported a man with a gun, followed by the sound of gunfire.
The agent wrote that Brzoska then made his account private.
Spokespeople for both the US Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s Cleveland Office said they could not comment on the case because of the ongoing investigation.
Brzoska’s attorney said he is waiting for more information before he comments on the case.
Odeh said she’s thankful Brzoska is off the streets and hopes the arrest restores a sense of safety to Northeast Ohio’s Muslim community.
“It's inexcusable, definitely,” said Odeh. “But we do hope that he learns from this and we hope that he can change.”
