On April 10, Grand Rapids, Michigan, resident William Kohles was found guilty of threatening to kill then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, telling her he had “a bullet with your name on it,” The Chicago Sun-Times noted.
In 2022, authorities charged Kohles with sending a message through a municipal feedback form that included profanities and slurs as well as the sentence “If you don’t reduce the crime in our city … I guarantee it will go straight through your mother——- head.”
Lightfoot had testified that no other threat she received during her time in public office was ever on that level.
Kohles’ attorney argued that his client sent the message spontaneously while reacting to a news segment on crime in Chicago and “didn’t mean it.” However, Judge Nicholas Kantas said there was nothing to suggest the message was quickly written, adding that Kohles’ words “showed his hostile intent.” He will be sentenced next month.
“His death threat to me was direct, vile and replete with racist and misogynistic language,” Lightfoot said in a written statement. “He wanted to cause me to be afraid, to worry about the safety of myself and my family.