(WTTW News)
A Michigan man upset over crime rates in Chicago allegedly wrote a threatening message to Mayor Lori Lightfoot in which he claimed he would shoot the mayor.
William Kohles, 42, has been charged with a felony count of threatening a public official after he allegedly sent a message in which he repeatedly threatened to shoot Lightfoot if she didn’t reduce crime in the city.
Kohles, who lives in Grand Rapids, was ordered held on a $30,000 D-bond during a hearing Tuesday, which means he must post $3,000 to be released from custody.
“The court does consider it to be a very serious, significant threat,” Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz said. “There’s certainly room for criticism, there’s room for political discourse in our society, but there is no room for threats of physical harm.”
According to Assistant State’s Attorney Lorraine Scaduto, on Sept. 23, an employee at Chicago’s 311 call center received a threatening message that had been sent through the portal on Lightfoot’s official webpage.
The written message allegedly stated: “If you don’t reduce the crime in our city, I will turn around and shoot your f---ing Black ass myself. You have five weeks or else you’ll have a bullet with your name on it. I guarantee it will go straight through your mother f---ing head.”
Scaduto said the message included other insults and a racial slur directed at Lightfoot, before concluding: “And I advise you don’t hire any extra security because they won’t even know what’s coming when I shoot your ass because it will be unexpected at the time it happens.”
The 311 employee immediately contacted Chicago police, who identified the IP address from which the message was sent. Investigators later tied this to Kohles’ phone, and when authorities went to his home to question him, he allegedly admitted that he’d gotten upset while watching a news story about violence levels in Chicago.
According to Scaduto, he blamed Lightfoot for these problems and admitted sending the complaint to the city’s website. While Kohles does not live in Chicago, he allegedly stated he does visit friends in the city and did “not want to become a victim.”
Kohles was arrested and extradited to Chicago to appear in court Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time my family and I have been subject to credible threats of death or great bodily harm, but we never get used to it,” Lightfoot said in a statement Tuesday. “I am grateful to the law enforcement officers who are working to keep us safe and bring this individual, and others like him, to justice.”
But Lightfoot added she was “disappointed” with the judge’s bond decision, which she called “a low cash bond that was readily paid.”
“This is another disappointing example where judges crafting pre-trial release decisions fail to impose adequate conditions of pre-trial release for someone who is demonstrably violent and dangerous,” she said.
According to his attorney, Kohles has a history of mental health issues for which he receives medication. He also suffers from seizures, and appeared to experience one during Tuesday’s hearing, though he refused any medical attention.
As a condition of his bond, Kohles has been barred from contacting Lightfoot or her office in any manner. He is due back in court for a hearing Jan. 4.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
