In June 2022, Colorado woman Deanna Meyer contacted her local sheriff’s office about violent and terroristic statements that her mentally ill 17-year-old son, Davin Meyer, was making at the time.
The local sheriff, in turn, contacted the FBI, which then began communicating with the teenager online. Months later, the FBI arrested Davin as he was about to board an airplane, ostensibly to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS.
But Davin’s mother says he is no ISIS fighter. Instead, he’s an 18-year-old with no friends, who suffers from numerous mental health issues, including autism, depression and anxiety, according to the mom.
At a detention hearing on Friday, Deanna reportedly expressed remorse that she ever sought help from law enforcement, blaming the FBI for ensnaring her son in a phony terrorism plot.
“I bet my life he would never do that without that encouragement [from FBI informants],” she said Friday, describing how her son communicated with at least two FBI informants in chat rooms from last November until he was arrested.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Reid Neureiter disregarded Deanna’s pleas on Friday and ordered Davin to remain in custody. Neureiter pointed to the fact that Davin allegedly threatened his mother’s life when he was still a juvenile—even though the mother said he hasn’t threatened her since he turned 18.
The judge did acknowledge the mother’s arguments in his five-page order.
“The mother testified at the detention hearing that she never believed he would likely move ahead with his expressed intentions, and the defendant only took steps to travel to the Middle East after finding a ‘community’ online, which included confidential FBI sources,” Judge Neureiter said.
“According to the defendant’s mother, he has ‘never had a friend’ and finding this community that appeared to be supportive of his plans is what likely caused him to act by buying the ticket to fly to Turkey.”
Neureiter also acknowledged Davin’s mental health problems.
“The defendant is ‘neurodiverse’ and was diagnosed at the age of nine of being on the autism spectrum, and he has also been diagnosed with having a low processing speed and massive depression. The defendant may also have obsessive compulsive disorder,” the judge said.
“The defendant has received diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood; specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics; and major depressive disorder, recurrent episode, moderate.”
However, Judge Neureiter said it’s in the public interest to keep Davin incarcerated.
“This is a difficult situation, and must be extremely heart-wrenching for the defendant’s family, in particular his mother, who has long believed the defendant needs help and therapy,” he said.
“Putting a defendant with his disabilities in jail, pending trial, will not address his condition nor provide the therapy that he apparently needs. It will, however, ensure that he cannot do violence to anyone.”
The judge concluded by saying he’d reconsider his order if the Meyer family can find a suitable mental health facility to house Davin.
Other bizarre details about the Meyer case can be found in the arrest affidavit of FBI task force officer Joni Tangeman.
For instance, Tangeman said Davin followed “white supremacist ideology” when he was 15-years-old, before he began practicing Islam in late 2020. Tangeman further said that Davin said when he was 17 that if he didn’t go to the Middle East, he would build a fertilizer bomb in the United States—the same bomb used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Additionally, the FBI officer admitted she knew about Davin’s mental health issues when investigating him.
“I am aware that MEYER has previously received mental health treatment, including residential treatment programs,” she said, adding that Davin apparently refused to take his medication when he converted to Islam.
“MEYER refused to take any prescription medication prescribed by the psychiatrist because it would be against his Islamic religion, and he also refused to go to school or participate in online school programs,” Tangeman said.
“Records show that MEYER has received diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder; attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood; specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics; and major depressive disorder, recurrent episode, moderate.”
The Meyer case follows the FBI arresting another mentally challenged 18-year-old, Mateo Ventura, for allegedly intending to help ISIS. Last month, The Intercept published an interview with Ventura’s father, who also accused FBI informants of entrapping his son.
“He was born prematurely, he had brain development issues. I had the school do a neurosurgery evaluation on him and they said his brain was underdeveloped,” Ventura’s father, Paul Ventura, told The Intercept. “He was suffering endless bullying at school with other kids taking food off his plate, tripping him in the hallway, humiliating him, laughing at him.”
Ventura is currently in a private mental health facility as his case proceeds. Meyer’s preliminary hearing is set for July 31.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
