Cyberstalker who threatened families of Parkland shooting victims sent to prison

On one side of the courtroom sat parents of victims in the mass Parkland shooting, seeking a 20-year prison sentence for a young California man who sent threatening internet messages to families scarred by the deadly tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School..

On the other side sat the father and brother of Brandon Michael Fleury, a 22-year-old with autism, hoping that a federal judge would give him no prison time and rehabilitative treatment while on probation.

After four hours of emotional testimony on Monday, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz reached a compromise desired by neither the prosecutors nor defense, settling on a term of 5-1/2 years — the midpoint of the federal sentencing guidelines for Fluery’s convictions on one count of interstate threats and three counts of cyberstalking. Fleury, who despite his autism was ruled of sound mind to face trial, was found guilty in October.

Ruiz said that while Fluery’s internet trolling made the Parkland families “fear for their lives ... this is not a situation where we can lock him up and throw away the key. ... It is difficult to figure out how to give a sentence for words. I think this strikes a balance.”

During the hearing, two fathers expressed their horror over the sensationally threatening messages that Fleury sent over the internet to some of the relatives of the 17 Parkland students and staff killed by confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz on Valentine’s Day 2018. They even suggested that if FBI agents had not raided Fleury’s home in Santa Ana, Calif., nearly a year after the Parkland rampage, he might have become a school shooter himself.

“It was so upsetting to receive those messages during” the holidays in 2018, said Max Schachter, whose son Alex was killed at the Parkland high school. “No, I thought [at first], it looks like the murderer [Cruz] is sending us messages. It was extremely terrifying. I was so scared for my family.”

“My family went through months of torture” after the Parkland shooting, said Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed at the high school.

Guttenberg said his family tried to enjoy a “normal day” during the holidays in 2018, only to receive the intimidating messages from Fleury. “You can’t tell me he didn’t know what he was doing,” the father said. “Not only did he know, he planned it out.”

Fleury’s defense attorney, Sabrina Puglisi, showed a video made of her client while he has been in prison and of his family at home in an effort to humanize him and show that his autism prevented him from understanding “social rules” and the consequences of his actions.

In the video, Fleury said he was sexually assaulted while being held in an Atlanta prison in recent months.

He also said he was sorry for the threatening messages he had sent the Parkland families. “I will never do it again,” he said. “I never intended to scare anyone.”

His father, Patrick Fleury, said he had to raise Brandon and his brother Nathan as a single dad after the death of their mother and that a drunk driver nearly killed Nathan when both sons were young.

“He is not violent in any way, shape or form,” said the father, sobbing as he urged the judge not to send his son to prison for a long time. “I can guarantee that whatever happens with Brandon, I will be with him every single day.”

While Ruiz struggled to reconcile the emotional pull of both sides, the judge made it clear that Fleury’s shocking messages went far beyond those of “your average internet troll” because he threatened the lives of relatives and survivors of the Parkland shooting.

According to trial evidence, Fleury used 13 different Instagram accounts under the aliases of Cruz, notorious serial killer Ted Bundy and others to target people close to the 17 high school students and staff killed in the mass shooting.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ajay Alexander said at Monday’s hearing that Fleury was “sexually aroused” by Cruz, Bundy and the others while carrying out the cyberattacks on Parkland relatives.

“He was stalking them every step of the way,” Alexander said. “But he waited until Christmas when they were at their most vulnerable. He wanted them to feel fear. He wanted them to feel vulnerable. ... To hide behind the mask of autism is an insult to autism.”

Fleury sent many messages under usernames referring to Cruz with his profile picture that taunted recipients about the deaths of loved ones in the Parkland shooting, evidence showed. On Dec. 25, 2018, Fleury sent a message stating, “I’m your abductor I’m kidnapping you fool.”

On Jan. 9, 10, and 11, 2019, Fleury sent other threatening messages from multiple Instagram accounts under the username “the.douglas.shooter” with the profile picture of Cruz, who is accused of firing an assault-style rifle in the mass school shooting. Trial evidence showed Fleury’s messages included the following threats: “With the power of my AR-15, you all die,” and “With the power of my AR-15, I take your loved ones away from you PERMANENTLY.”

According to court records, Fleury also used an Instagram account, “nikolas.killed.your.sister,” to send these threatening messages: “I killed your loved ones ha ha ha” and “cry for me.”

After examining Fleury’s tablets, FBI agents found thousands of saved images of Bundy, the serial killer convicted of murdering young women in Florida and other states in the 1970s. Agents also found images of the relatives and friends of the Parkland shooting victims on Fleury’s tablets as well as saved screenshots of the messages that he had sent them.

While Fleury used different accounts, the FBI said all of them came from the same IP address in California. On Jan. 16, 2019, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers searched the home Fleury shared with his father and brother, according to court records.

“Fleury made spontaneous statements to the effect that the agents were there because of ‘some stupid s---’ he had done on the internet,” an agent wrote in a complaint charging Fleury in January of last year.

Fleury told agents “he was motivated by gaining popularity and notoriety after posting the messages,” according to the complaint.

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 6:03 PM.