FOND DU LAC COUNTY (NBC 26) — A 75-year-old Fond du Lac man was sentenced to a week in jail and fined $500 after being convicted of threatening Wisconsin legislators.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney says in May 2022, James Stearns sent e-mails to a talk show radio host and a state legislator in the days after the Uvalde school shooting.
In the emails, he railed against AR-15 style weapons and threatened legislators who passed legislation to arm teachers or administrators.
Prosecutors say in an email to a talk show radio host, Stearns invited the email to be shared and threatened to buy a gun that he described as “the most powerful I can purchase” to murder any legislator that voted in favor a bill that would allow teachers or administrators to be armed with a gun.
Stearns also sent an email to a specific legislator stating that if the legislator passed legislation to “arm teachers administrators and other staff” that “you’ll be a dead man in 60 days” and “people will hunt you down and your family like animals," according to a press release.
“Political violence has no place in society and threats to murder legislators for doing the work of the people is a threat to democracy and must never be tolerated," Toney said in the release. "Political disagreement is healthy but it must be done civilly and peacefully. We will continue to protect those that do the people’s work, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with their politics.”
