October 11, 2025
Authorities say the suspect despatched violent, racist emails concentrating on Mayor Lee and different officers.
A forty five-year-old man from El Cerrito has been charged with a number of hate crimes after allegedly sending a sequence of racist and violent threats to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, in keeping with the Alameda County District Lawyer’s Workplace. The suspect, recognized as David Pokorny, was charged with threatening a public official and committing a hate crime. He’s presently being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California, with bail set at $70,000.
Authorities mentioned members of Mayor Lee’s workers contacted legislation enforcement after discovering a number of disturbing emails stuffed with express racial slurs and violent threats. The messages have been despatched from an unfamiliar Google account.
The primary electronic mail was despatched to Lee on Sept. 7, however it wasn’t till Sept. 22 {that a} workers member seen the alarming messages whereas reviewing the mayor’s inbox. The emails included racist language and graphic threats to hurt the mayor and others.
One message learn partly, “I would like all of the [N-word] in Oakland killed. They’re an unhealthy pest. If you wish to maintain the [expletive] alive, then I would like you killed, too. I feel we should always kill all the authorities officers in Oakland and all the law enforcement officials and judges in Oakland as properly.”
One other electronic mail, despatched on Sept. 21, escalated the risk to Lee: “You’re a psychopath, and I’m going to torture and homicide you.”
Mayor Lee and her workers reported the threats instantly, describing them as credible and deeply regarding. An investigation shortly led authorities to Pokorny, who was arrested and formally charged this week.
The case of Mayor Lee comes amid an increase in threats and violence directed towards public officers throughout the USA. Knowledge collected by Princeton College exhibits a rise in politically motivated harassment and violence concentrating on lawmakers, judges, and native leaders.
Earlier this 12 months, a Minnesota lawmaker was killed and one other was injured in an assault carried out by a person pretending to be a police officer. Investigators later uncovered writings itemizing dozens of Democratic politicians the suspect allegedly deliberate to focus on.
Pokorny’s arrest underscores rising issues over the security of elected leaders, significantly amid heightened political stress and on-line extremism.
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