Threats against Kan. mayor on face masks lead to man’s arrest
Mayor Brandon Whipple of Wichita, Kan., said he often gets “goofy” threats, like the time someone said they wanted to attack him with a Goodyear blimp.
But those threats took a serious turn Friday after someone reported to police that they had received text messages threatening to kidnap and killWhipple, a Democrat. Although themessages weren’t sent directly toWhipple, he said a detective read them to him.
The messages contained a “very descriptive plan of execution,” including locating themayor, slitting his throat, hanging him and then turning him into fertilizer, Whipple said Saturday.
Whipple said themansent the messages to a third party, who later reported the messages to police. The messages described the mayor using a code name, asked for his address and also mentioned opposition to masks and coronavirus mitigation policies
The mayor pushed in July to pass amaskmandate inWichita.
“This isn’t someone who is just kind of angry,” Whipple said. “This sounded like it was thought out in the text messages that were read tome.”
On Friday, the Wichita Police Department said in a news release that Meredith Dowty, 59, was arrested on a charge of criminal threat in connection with threatening statements directed at Whipple.
The Wichita Eagle reported that Dowty is a retired Wichita city firefighter who was once honored by the City Council for helping save the lifeof apolice officer who had been shot.
Officer Charley Davidson of the Wichita Police Department said Sunday that hewasn’t aware of other threats directed at elected officials.
It is the latest in a series of threats made this month against government officials.
On Oct. 8, the FBI said an antigovernment group in Michigan had plotted in detail to kidnap the state’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. The FBI also said Thursday that Gov. RalphNorthamofVirginia, also a Democrat, was discussed as a target by the same group.
Whitmer said Sunday that President Donald Trump is inciting “domestic terrorism” following “lock her up” chants at his rally in the state the night before.
Whitmer told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the rhetoric is “incredibly disturbing” a little more than a week after authorities announced they had thwarted an alleged plot to kidnap the Democratic governor.
“The president is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism,” Whitmer said. “It is wrong. It’s got to end. It is dangerous, not just for me and my family, but forpublic servants everywhere who are doing their jobs and trying to protect their fellow Americans. People of good will on both sides of the aisle need to step up and call this out and bring the heat down.”
At a rally in Muskegon on Saturday evening, Trump urged supporters to push Whitmer to reopen the state following COVID-19 restrictions. When the crowd starting chanting “lock her up,” Trump added, “Lock ‘em all up.”
Democrats have sought to tie Trumpto the alleged plot against Whitmer, pointing to the president’s tweet earlier this year to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” after Whitmer restricted personal movement and the economy in response to the coronavirus pandemic.