From the U.S. Attorney:
SUBURBAN CHICAGO MAN SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR THREATENING FEMA EMPLOYEES AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for threatening Federal Emergency Management Agency employees and local law enforcement officers.
DARREN D. WALTON, 31, of Midlothian, Ill., made more than 100 phone calls to FEMA employees in connection with an application for disaster assistance that Walton filed with the agency for alleged damage to his vehicle due to flooding in 2023.
Many of the calls contained threats of violent and destructive behavior against FEMA and its employees.
In one call, Walton told a FEMA employee,
“Y’all better stop [expletive] playing with me, bro. Before there be a mass shooting in a little bit, bro. Real talk. And I’ll smile in court on camera on the news, letting ‘em knowing I killed them [expletive] ‘cause you was playing with me, bro.”
When FEMA reported the calls to local law enforcement, Midlothian Police Department officers performed a welfare check at Walton’s residence, after which his calls began to reference police officers.
In a call to FEMA on the day after the welfare check, Walton stated,
“Send ‘em again. And I’ll kill the [expletive]. Tell them I kill they [expletive] this time. I’m ready to kill. And I’m going to kill. And I’m gonna make sure I kill. I’m going to kill a good four, five officers before the police even take me out the [expletive], guaranteed.”
Walton pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed the two-year prison sentence during a hearing on Wednesday in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security / Federal Protective Service-Region 5. Valuable assistance was provided by the Midlothian Police Department.
“Defendant’s threats were terrifying to the FEMA employees who received them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Rosenbloom argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The FEMA employees who received the calls were public servants doing their job. They did not deserve to be exposed to the terrifying threats contained in defendant’s calls.”
