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Lawyer: FBI Erred In Tying Man To Synagogue Massacre Suspect

Gene J. Puskar
/
AP
A woman visits a memorial for Irving Yougher outside the Tree of Life Synagogue on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018 in Pittsburgh. A gunman shot a killed 11 people while they worshipped Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 at the temple.

A defense attorney says federal authorities misrepresented a social media connection between the suspect in last month's Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and a man whose relatives reported concerns about his behavior after the shooting to the FBI.

But a magistrate judge on Friday ordered 30-year-old Jeffrey Clark Jr. detained pending trial on gun charges in Washington, D.C.

Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey expressed concern about Clark's "menacing" posts on Gab, the same social media platform used by synagogue shooting suspect Robert Bowers.

Public defender David Bos said the FBI was "dead wrong" when it said Clark had referred to the massacre as "a dry run for things to come."

A prosecutor acknowledged Clark's post likely referred to Cesar Sayoc, who's accused of mailing pipe bombs to critics of President Donald Trump.