File photo: A Star of David hangs from a fence outside the dormant landmark Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, April 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
A self-proclaimed white supremacist was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison Wednesday for making online threats toward the jury and witnesses at the trial of a man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Hardy Carroll Lloyd, 45, of Follansbee, West Virginia, was sentenced in federal court in northern West Virginia for his September guilty plea to obstruction of the due administration of justice.
Lloyd admitted that the actual or perceived Jewish faith of the government witnesses and victims in the trial of Robert Bowers prompted him to target the jury and witnesses.
The U.S. Justice Department described Lloyd as a self-proclaimed leader of a white supremacy movement. Prosecutors said Lloyd, who was arrested on Aug. 10, sent threatening social media posts and emails along with comments on websites during Bowers’ trial.
Bowers was sentenced to death in August in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history after a jury determined that capital punishment was appropriate.
In May 2022, the Texas Department of Public Safety offered a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to Lloyd’s arrest after he allegedly posted a series of comments online threatening to carry a firearm onto the Texas Capitol grounds and challenge any police officer who tried to “take enforcement actions” against him. A statement from the department said Lloyd was a convicted felon.