An Upper Bucks County man is accused of making threats that included racial and ethnic slurs against a leader in a Baptist church whose congregation he recently joined.
Buckingham Police opened an investigation earlier this month after receiving a report that a deacon at a Plumstead church received concerning and threatening text messages at his home from a new member, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The deacon provided police with the text messages allegedly sent by Robert Maschock Jr., 61, of Point Pleasant, which started late on Sept. 16 and continued into the next day.
In the first text message sent shortly before 11 p.m. Maschock allegedly
threatened to kill the deacon and wrote it was his personal agenda “to kill Muslims in the United States,” according to the affidavit. Arrest paperwork listed Maschock’s race as white.
In subsequent messages, Maschock allegedly continued threatening the deacon’s life, stated that he wanted to kill Muslims and later made threats using racial slurs against Black Americans.
Shortly after 7 a.m. the next morning, Sept. 17, the deacon allegedly received a text message from Maschock apologizing for his previous text messages. He explained the messages were “sent in error and someone got in his face while helping people in Philadelphia,” the affidavit said.
But as the text message continued Maschock again used racial slurs referring to Black Americans saying they deserved “to be exterminated.”
A Buckingham police officer spoke to Maschock later on Sept. 17 and told him he was no longer allowed at the church and he should immediately stop contacting the deacon.
Minutes later, though, he allegedly sent another text threatening the deacon and using racial slurs, the affidavit said. The text messages from Maschock allegedly continued for a few more hours.
The affidavit also stated that around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, Maschock sent text messages to a woman calling the pastor of a different Baptist church in Bucks County insults and including the alleged threatening statement, “Click, click boom."
Maschock was arraigned Sept. 18 before District Judge Tim Barton on a felony charge of ethnic intimidation, and related misdemeanor charges.
He was transferred to Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $20,000 bail, and had no legal representation listed as of Sept. 18, according to the public court docket.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County man accused of threats, racial slurs against church leader
