A California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on charges of threatening Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced Friday.
Mark Schultz, 66, of Chula Vista, made his first court appearance in California on 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 live-streamed YouTube videos in October that threatened Willis with violence, including one that said she “will be killed like a dog.”
The indictment detailed more threats made by Schultz, including “FANI WILLIS WILL BE DEAD BY 2024” and other threats using racial slurs.
Willis is leading one of four major criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and has accused him of racketeering and conspiracy for working to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. She faced racism threats since his office began its investigation of Trump.
“Threats of violence against government officials, specifically, threaten the very fabric of our democracy,” said Keri Farley, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta field office.
In a statement released by Willis’ office, she referenced Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, who is leading an investigation into Willis’ office.
“On the same day Senator Bill Cowsert had the audacity to question whether an elected African-American district attorney deserves protection from death threats, the United States Attorney and the FBI announced another indictment of someone who threatened my life,” said Willis in the statement. .
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 ensure the safety of me, my team, and others. our families.”
Willis has been under scrutiny in recent months due to her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor her 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 have her disqualified from the case.
In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could continue prosecuting the case, but she and Wade could not work together. Wade resigned from the case shortly after the McAfee ruling.
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