North Carolina man arrested over threat to ‘shoot and skin’ black babies in YouTube comment

Zachary Charles Newell, a 25-year-old from Newport, North Carolina, was arrested on September 1, 2025, after posting a racially charged comment on YouTube threatening to kill black preschool children.

According to a United States Department of Justice press release, The comment, made under the username “CommentatorsHateMe,” read: “I’m gonna shoot up a black pre-school. 20 black babies will be shot and then skinned like the animals they are.”

Google’s cybercrime team flagged the message and reported it to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center on August 31, 2025. The comment was posted on a video discussing a wrestling match involving Raja Jackson, the son of UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Upon investigating the matter, authorities traced the account to Newell using information provided by Google, including email and IP address data.

“Wait until they gut you like the animal you are”

At the same time, investigators uncovered another comment linked to Newell’s YouTube account, which read, “A literal [N-word] hiding in Germany. Wait until they gut you like the animal you are. The amount of pain and suffering black people are about to suffer makes me so happy.”

When questioned by the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, Newell admitted to posting the threatening comment. He was initially charged in state court with communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property and was given a $30,000 bond. Later that evening, federal agents took him into custody on federal charges. Newell faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted.

The FBI emphasized the severity of the threat, with Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. stating, “Every child in North Carolina deserves to go to school without fear.”