A 56-year-old Canandaigua man is accused of making threats to the Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum that forced operators to cancel a major fundraiser last month.
Michael J. Keitz allegedly emailed the museum the day before its Granger Homestead Dinner Dance with the subject line “DEATH TO THE JEWS,” federal authorities said Tuesday in announcing Keitz had been arrested and charged in the case.
“The email contained a threat to ‘bring death and destruction’ to (the event). The email also stated that ‘we will bring a swift justice worse than OCTOBER 7th,’” authorities said in the statement. "The threatening email resulted in the cancellation of the event, which resulted in a loss of approximately $10,000 in expenses and a substantial amount of revenue.”
Keitz had allegedly begun emailing the museum that week using an email address for “justonstclair0” promising a large donation, but he wanted to visit first. The museum director had responded with upcoming events and potential dates.
Canandaigua police took Keitz into custody days later on a different matter, authorities said. During their investigation, they determined the email address belonged to Keitz, and that he had sent the threatening messages from Wood Library in Canandaigua. Keitz has prior state and federal convictions, including bank robbery in 2021. He was on federal supervised release.
He was charged by criminal complaint with interstate transmission of threats to injure another person, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
