By Tyler Arnold
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 25, 2025 / 16:45 pm
The Memphis Police Department (MPD) last week arrested a 30-year-old man who is accused of sending a threatening email to a local Catholic parish expressing his intent to “butcher” Catholics with a machete.
Zachary Liberto, who lives in Memphis, was charged with commissioning an act of terrorism for allegedly sending the email to a member of the staff at St. Louis Catholic Church, which is on the eastern side of the city. If convicted, he could face between 15 and 60 years in prison.
According to a police report provided to CNA, Liberto is accused of sending an email to the parish’s music director on March 20 containing the threat against parishioners.
Liberto had reportedly requested video footage of an unrelated incident as part of the threat. “I need a video of [the unnamed person] getting slapped by you in 24 hours before I butcher people in that church with a machete,” the email sent to the music director read, according to the MPD report.
The music director forwarded the email to the unnamed person mentioned within it, who subsequently filed a complaint with the MPD.
According to the report, the complainant said Liberto is known to have a machete, which he allegedly nicknamed “chete.” The complainant also claimed Liberto has mentioned in the past that he owns a firearm.
The person who filed the complaint told police that Liberto lives in a homeless encampment in the city. The complainant and the music director both told police that Liberto has an unknown mental illness.
According to the police report, the music director said he and Liberto had communicated by email before. It also stated that neither the music director nor the unnamed person know what prompted Liberto to allegedly send the threatening email.
The suspect has a mental evaluation hearing scheduled for the morning of April 7, according to police.
Rick Ouellette, a spokesman for the Diocese of Memphis, told CNA that the parish also found garbage placed in the baptismal font on the same day as the threatening email. Both of these incidents combined prompted the parish to alert the authorities immediately.
Ouellette said Liberto was known to some members of the parish staff and that he had come to the church before.
“Our St. Louis staff notified authorities immediately of the incident,” Ouellette added. “The parish thanks the authorities for their quick response in apprehending a suspect. The incident is also a reminder to everyone that our St. Louis parish has a solid safety and security plan in place as does our 46 parishes and 13 schools in West Tennessee.”
Ouellette said there were not any physical or verbal confrontations between Liberto and parish staff or parishioners.
“We’re praying for everybody involved,” Ouellette added.
