by Mary Spiller
October 11, 2025
Authorities say the suspect despatched violent, racist emails focusing 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 accordance 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 at the moment being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California, with bail set at $70,000.
Authorities stated members of Mayor Lee’s employees contacted regulation enforcement after discovering a number of disturbing emails stuffed with express racial slurs and violent threats. The messages had 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} employees 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 partially, “I need all of the [N-word] in Oakland killed. They’re an unhealthy pest. If you wish to hold the [expletive] alive, then I need you killed, too. I feel we should always kill all the authorities officers in Oakland and all the cops and judges in Oakland as nicely.”
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 employees reported the threats instantly, describing them as credible and deeply regarding. An investigation rapidly 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 america. Knowledge collected by Princeton College reveals a rise in politically motivated harassment and violence focusing on lawmakers, judges, and native leaders.
Earlier this yr, 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 protection of elected leaders, notably amid heightened political pressure and on-line extremism.
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