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A Falls Church man was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison for his attempt to carry out a mass shooting at a Haymarket church in 2023.
In March, a federal jury convicted Rui Jiang, 36, of attempting to obstruct the congregants of the Park Valley Church in the free exercise of their religious beliefs, transmitting online threats and a firearms violation.
Following his prison sentence, Jiang will be on five years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alexandria said in a news release.
According to evidence presented at trial, Jiang began posting threats on Instagram against Park Valley Church on the evening of Sept. 23, 2023, “which made clear his intention to kill congregants,” the release said. Park Valley is a non-denominational church with a congregation of more than 1,500 members.
The next morning, officers searched for Jiang in response to a concerned citizen’s call and located him at the church while Sunday services were underway.
Jiang was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, two magazines of ammunition, and two knives, prosecutors said. He had additional ammunition, knives and a canister of bear spray in his nearby car.
During a search of Jiang’s apartment, police discovered copies of a manifesto, signed by Jiang, which read in part, “I am here deny (sic) the love lives blessed by God to these lucky men, by taking out these men… To the families of those men about to be slain – I am sorry for what I have done and about to do (sic).”
In a statement, Erik Siebert, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said Jiang set out to violate the congregation’s freedom of religion “by entering a church during a religious service armed with the intent to murder innocent parishioners.”
“This unspeakable act, only thwarted by brave law enforcement officers and civilians, has no place in our republic and will always be a priority of my office,” he said.
The FBI investigated the case “with substantial assistance” from the Prince William County and Fairfax County police departments. The Anne Arundel County Police Department also assisted.
