Kansas man accused of threatening Kentucky attorney general over Breonna Taylor case
A Kansas man faces a federal criminal charge after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron was threatened with death over the Breonna Taylor case.
Wesley Forrest Clay, 29, of Olathe, Kansas, was indicted Thursday on a charge of making a threat through interstate communications, according to court records.
Clay is accused of calling a telephone line dedicated to the Breonna Taylor case at Cameron’s office and leaving a message that said, among other things, “You will die if you do not give Breonna Taylor justice. That is a threat. Try me,” according to an affidavit in his case.
When interviewed by an FBI agent, Clay admitted to leaving the voicemail, according to the affidavit. But Clay said that he was protected by the First Amendment and had no intention of carrying out the threat.
Investigators also found Clay’s TikTok, where he posted a video saying he’d been interviewed by the FBI and “I threatened the Attorney General in Louisville,” according to the affidavit.
The threatening message was left on Sept. 23, the day that it was announced a Jefferson County grand jury had charged only one of the three officers involved in Taylor’s death. The man indicted, former Louisville Metro Police Department officer Brett Hankison, was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for the 10 bullets he’s accused of firing into a neighboring apartment occupied by three people.
No one has been charged in the death of 26-year-old Taylor, who was shot and killed by Louisville police who entered her apartment late one night in March executing a warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a shot when the officers entered and the officers returned fire, killing Taylor.
Walker would later say that he didn’t know it was the police who had entered the apartment and that he’d fired a warning shot because he thought there was an intruder. Taylor was unarmed.
Protesters in Louisville and around the country were upset by the announcement that no one had been criminally charged in Taylor’s death. An FBI investigation into possible civil rights violations in the case is ongoing.
If Clay is convicted, he could face up to five years in prison, according to the office of Robert M. Duncan, Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
In a release from Duncan’s office Thursday, Special Agent in Charge James Robert Brown, Jr., of the FBI’s Louisville Office, said that the FBI works with partners around the country to ensure elected officials’ safety.
“Sending threatening communications not only takes an emotional toll on the victim but it also unnecessarily drains law enforcement resources. Threats are not jokes. You will be charged and arrested with a federal crime,” Brown said.
Russell Coleman, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, also said in the statement that agencies cooperate to mitigate such threats.
“Threatening harm to our elected officials is a far cry from protected-speech and subjects people to vigorous investigation and potential federal prosecution,” Coleman said.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 4:35 PM.
