A 27-year-old Chico resident and Chico State graduate was taken into custody on Feb. 9, subsequently arrested and booked into Butte County Jail for false imprisonment, domestic battery and criminal threats, according to a media release by the Chico Police Department.

After receiving a request for a welfare check of Kyle Anthony Mitchell, police learned he had made “various threats towards the Jewish community” and expressed “specific intent to perform criminal acts towards others,” according to the media release. Following the publication of this news, on social media, dozens of users celebrated some of Mitchell’s actions, specifically the alleged targeting of Jewish communities. 

The university confirmed Mitchell attended Chico State from 2016 to 2019 and graduated with a degree in international relations.

On Instagram, comments ranged from “Give that man a beer,” and “We stand with Kyle,” to “Let him,” and “free this patriot.” On Facebook, commenters stated that Jews carried out the 9/11 terror attacks, they are the world’s cancer, claims of antisemitism are a ploy to avoid taxes and “The Painter” [Hitler] was right.  

The word “juice” or the juice box emoji, used by antisemites as a code for the words “Jew” or “Jewish,” was used about seven times throughout various comment sections. Writing the word “juice” or using the emoji allows people to “espouse demonizing rhetoric about the Jewish people while evading content moderation,” according to the ADL Center on Extremism. 

Other antisemitic comments referenced political parties serving Jewish masters, false flag antisemitism, Jews being goblins, and Jews raping children. All comments were sparked by the brief news that a man in Chico allegedly threatened local Jewish communities.

Patterns in the online discourse included Holocaust denial, lamenting that other minorities would not receive the protective treatment that Jewish communities receive, and sympathizing with people’s rage against Israel and encouraging turning attention to Zionists. These attitudes do not necessarily belong to faraway keyboard warriors, as more than a dozen user profiles appear to be located in California, including in Chico. Commenters included one self-described Chico State student.

Police contacted local Jewish congregations “to make them aware of the potential threat, and coordinate safety plans as needed,” the media release stated, and brought in specialized teams to support patrol and investigative efforts. 

The police stated that an investigation remains ongoing and “additional charges related to a possible hate crime may be filed as further evidence is obtained.” In 2025, 57% of all religiously-motivated hate crimes in the U.S. were anti-Jewish, coming out to 1,509 anti-Jewish offenses out of 2,626 anti-religion offenses, according to the FBI Crime Data Explorer. 

Mitchell was bonded out of custody, according to VINE, a statewide program that provides access to information and notifications of inmate releases and transfers. No other information can be released, according to police. 

Raquel Frohlich can be reached at [email protected]