A Lincoln Park man threatened to shoot Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and hang them from trees if they did not address the city’s growing crime problem, prosecutors said Thursday.
Christopher Tatlock, 32, of the 900 block of West Willow, is charged with two counts of hate crime and two counts of threatening a public official. Judge Maryam Ahmad ruled he could go home on electronic monitoring by posting a 10% bail deposit of $500.
Tatlock allegedly sent Foxx an email on May 4 that said, “You stupid n-gger. Start prosecuting crime or I’ll put a bullet in the back of your head and hang you from a tree.”
Two days later, he allegedly sent a similar email to Lightfoot: “You stupid n-gger. Start getting tough on crime or I’ll put a bullet in the back of your head and hang you from a tree outside my house.”
When Chicago police and a state’s attorney investigator went to Tatlock’s home Tuesday, he admitted to sending the emails after seeing news reports about violent crime and becoming upset about incidents that were close to his home, Assistant Attorney General Michael Falagario said.
Tatlock apologized repeatedly, expressed regret, and denied having any intention of carrying out the threats, according to Falagario. Tatlock also sent an apology note to the state’s attorney investigator who visited his home.
Police arrested Tatlock the next day.
A private defense attorney said Tatlock, a DePaul graduate, lives with his girlfriend. The attorney suggested Tatlock may have mental health issues.
Judge Ahmad said Tatlock cannot use email and must not contact Foxx, Lightfoot or their offices when he gets out of jail. She also ordered him to surrender any firearms and his Firearm Owner’s ID card.
He is due back in court on May 20.
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