By Michael Gryboski, Editor Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Authorities say a man who was recently fired from his job was arrested for threatening to commit a mass shooting at a Florida megachurch.

Michael Iaboni, 32, was arrested late Saturday evening and booked early Sunday morning over videos he posted and later deleted from his social media in which he threatened to attack a local church.

According to an affidavit from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Iaboni stated in the video that "I got fired, and I'm fired up." He declared, "It's all kill shot."

According to court documents, Iaboni said he "would never take my own life, but I understand the people that I am going to be going after are and could potentially be dangerous."

"I'm going after megachurches," he added in the video, allegedly saying that a local church named Christ Fellowship was "on my list to hit" and that "my end game is taking you out."

"It's not necessarily the people that are yelling that you need to be worried about; it's the quiet ones, it's the ones that no longer fear death. I expect death to come fast and very violent, hopefully I go out fast."

In an additional social media post, authorities say Iaboni allegedly declared that "if you give me the opportunity to defend myself. It's gonna look like a genocide."

Iaboni lived less than two miles away from the church, and, according to court documents, had started attending and signed up for an introductory class called "Journey" that centered on learning more about the congregation.

Iaboni's arrest comes shortly after Zimnako Salah, a 46-year-old resident of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced to six years in prison for targeting four churches with a bomb plot in which he planted backpacks with the intention of disrupting worship.

Although the backpacks that Zimnako had planted at the church properties in three states did not contain any bombs, he possessed actual components for an explosive device at a storage unit.

"Salah's seeming ultimate goal to bomb a Christian church would have resulted in many deaths and injuries if his plan had not been thwarted," said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant in a statement. 

"Today's sentence is justified by the history and characteristics of this defendant and serves to protect the public from this defendant. And it affirms that people of all religions should be able to worship freely and exercise their First Amendment rights in this country without fear of violence."

According to a recently released report from the conservative group Family Research Council, over 400 acts of hostility were recorded against churches in the United States in 2024.