USA Today – by James B. Nelson and Jacob Carpenter
MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin man who sent a manifesto to the president earlier this month was taken into custody early Friday in western Wisconsin, law enforcement officials said.
Joseph Jakubowski was arrested just before 6 a.m. CT on Friday after he was found camping on a farmer’s property near Readstown, Wis., in Vernon County. The farmer filed a suspicious complaint saying a man “matching the description of Jakubowski was camping at that location and refused to leave when he had been asked to do so,” the Rock County (Wis.) Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
“Investigators assigned to the Jakubowski case were sent to that location along with tactical support to assist local authorities in determining whether the suspicious individual was related to the manhunt,” the release said.
Tactical officers made contact with the man at the campsite, and he was “taken into custody without incident and positively identified as Joseph A. Jakubowski, our wanted fugitive.”
The department said it was making arrangements for Jakubowski to be returned to Rock County for further investigation and charges.
A nationwide search was launched last week for Jakubowski, 32, who is suspected of stealing firearms from a Janesville, Wis., gun shop, including an automatic weapon, and threatening to use them on public officials or a school.
The FBI offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Jakubowski’s location.
Investigators have said Jakubowski mailed a 161-page manifesto to President Trump that contains extensive, rambling screeds against the government and religion. While there are no specific targets listed, he does suggest he’s willing to carry out violent acts. Officials have said Jakubowski doesn’t affiliate himself with any particular political party in the manifesto.
An unnamed associate recorded Jakubowski mailing the manifesto on the afternoon of April 4. A few hours later, Jakubowski broke into a Janesville weapons store, stole 18 guns, then set his car on fire, authorities have said.
CAPTURED! Awesome work to the men and women who worked this case. Thanks for all of your patience with this case. – Sgt Flanagan pic.twitter.com/1vBQKN6fTK
— Beloit Police (@BeloitPolice1) April 14, 2017
A portion of the document was published Thursday by WTMJ-TV, which said it received a copy from a source who had the manifesto before Jakubowski’s disappearance. In it, Jakubowski said the government and religion are brainwashing citizens, and he wants his death “carried out by the hands of the president” on live television, the station reported.
Authorities said they don’t know who mailed the portion, which contained 36 of the 161 pages. Investigators have two copies of the manifesto: the original mailed to Trump; and a version provided by a cooperating source.
On Thursday it was announced that, someone who said they were Jakubowski sent a letter threatening violence Easter Sunday against churches about 19 miles northwest of Milwaukee, the Waukesha Sheriff’s Office said.
The threat of unspecified violence against unspecified churches in Sussex, Wis., was sent through the U.S. Postal Service, but authorities were not able to substantiate the threat nor its author, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Thank you to law enforcement at the municipal, county, state and federal level for their outstanding work! pic.twitter.com/XrHCfWWn2u
— Governor Walker (@GovWalker) April 14, 2017
Authorities said Thursday they had no information to suggest the fugitive was getting help to evade capture.
Janesville Police Chief David Moore and Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden said authorities had received more than 700 tips in the nationwide search for Jakubowski. The tips largely came from local and state residents, with a few originating as far away as Texas and Oklahoma, they said.
Spoden said investigators couldn’t rule out that Jakubowski was being aided by accomplices, but “right now we just don’t have the information or evidence that anybody is assisting him.”
On Thursday, authorities continued their calls for Jakubowski to turn himself in, noting that nobody has been hurt.
“Sometimes we make a mistake, and those mistakes we can correct and work through,” said Spoden on Thursday. “So far, what Joseph has done is correctable, and we encourage him to do the right thing for his community and his family.”
Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow James B. Nelson and Jacob Carpenter on Twitter: @jamesbnelson and @MJS_JCarpenter
THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING A THIEF??????
I love how the pigs are congratulating themselves for their “awesome work,” even though they aren’t the ones who found him; a farmer did.
Too bad Jakubowski didn’t smoke some pork before he was captured.
He was a wanna be trencher.in actuality just a common thief.