A California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta for threatening the Fulton County prosecutor. Fani Willisthe U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced Friday.
Mark Schultz, 66, of Chula Vista, made his first appearance in a California court Friday. He was indicted on April 24 and will be arraigned in Atlanta in June, according to the Justice Department.
According to court documents, Schultz repeatedly posted comments on livestreamed YouTube videos in October that threatened Willis with violence, including one saying she “would be killed like a dog.”
The indictment details more threats made by Schultz, including “FANI WILLIS WILL BE DEAD IN 2024” and other threats using racial slurs.
Willis leads one of four major criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and accused him of racketeering and conspiracy for working to overturn the results of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. She was confronted with racist remarks threats since his office began its investigation into Trump.
“Threats of violence against government officials, in particular, threaten the very fabric of our democracy,” said Keri Farley, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office.
In a statement released by Willis’ office, she referred to Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert, who leads investigation from Willis’ office.
“On the same day Senator Bill Cowsert had the audacity to question whether an elected African-American female district attorney deserved protection from death threats, the United States Attorney and the FBI announced another indictment of someone who threatened my life,” Willis said in the release. .
She added: “I thank U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan, his team, and the FBI for believing that the life of an African-American elected official has value and for their diligent efforts to keep me and my staff safe and our families.”
Willis has been under scrutiny in recent months because of her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor his office hired to help with the Trump case.
In January, lawyers for Trump and several of his co-defendants accused Willis of improperly profiting financially from her relationship with Wade and sought to disqualify her from the case.
In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee governed Willis could continue to pursue the case, but she and Wade couldn’t work on it together. Wade resigned from the case shortly after McAfee’s decision.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
