Chicago — A man from Lincoln Park has been given probation and community service for threatening to shoot Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and hang them from trees if they didn’t do something about the city’s crime problem.
Christopher Tatlock, 33, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of electronic harassment before Judge Anjana Hansen on Thursday, court records show. Prosecutors downgraded those charges from felonies and dropped two counts of hate crime and two counts of threatening a public official in their plea deal with Tatlock.
In addition to two years of probation, Tatlock must perform 100 hours of community service, Hansen ruled.
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, he admitted to sending the emails after seeing news reports about violent crime and becoming upset about incidents close to his home, prosecutors said.
Tatlock apologized repeatedly, expressed regret, and denied having any intention of carrying out the threats, officials said. Tatlock also sent an apology note to the state’s attorney investigator who visited his home.
Police arrested Tatlock the next day.
Lightfoot “stalker” case ends with probation
Another man who was charged with stalking Lightfoot in February reached a quick plea deal with prosecutors in September.
Angered by mounting parking ticket fines, Joseph Igartua, a 37-year-old concealed carry holder, repeatedly went to Lightfoot’s home in January and February, prosecutors alleged. One time, while carrying a letter, Igartua was intercepted by Lightfoot’s security detail. He allegedly told them he was there to express his anger about traffic citations.
Chicago police set up surveillance on Igartua, and covert units saw him drive into an alley on the 2500 block of North Tripp, about a mile west of Lightfoot’s home, on February 16, according to a CPD report.
Moments after Iguarta entered the alley, officers heard gunfire, and a ShotSpotter gunfire detection device alerted them to five rounds fired in the alley.
Covert officers located Igartua’s vehicle again as he drove toward Lightfoot’s residence and pulled him over at a gas station on the corner of Pulaski and Wrightwood, about a half-mile from the mayor’s home, according to a CPD report.
Prosecutors said the officers found two spent shell casings inside Igartua’s truck that matched casings recovered in the alley where shots were fired. They also found a loaded gun in his center console.
But, in the end, prosecutors dropped all of the stalking charges, and Igartua pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm, according to court records.
“I think they recognized it wasn’t a stalking case,” Igartua’s lawyer, Steven Greenberg, told the Chicago Tribune. “He was just a disgruntled citizen. And they really overreached on it.”
Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced him to 18 months probation and signed a no-contact order to keep Iguartua away from Lightfoot until September 2024.
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