A California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on charges of threatening Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said 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 posted comments on YouTube live streaming videos in October repeatedly threatening Willis with violence, including saying he would be “killed like a dog.”
The indictment detailed Schultz’s threats such as “FANI WILLIS WILL DIE IN 2024” and other threats that used racial slurs.
Willis is in charge one of four major criminal cases against former President Donald Trump and accused him of trying to annul the results of the 2020 presidential elections in Georgia. He was subjected to racism threats since his office began investigating Trump.
“Threats of violence against government officials in particular threaten the fabric of our democracy,” said Special Agent in Charge Carey Farley of the FBI’s Atlanta office.
In a statement released by Willis’ office, he cited leading GOP state Sen. Bill Cowsert investigation From Willis’ office.
“On the same day Senator Bill Cowsert had the audacity to question whether an elected African-American female district attorney deserves immunity from death threats, the US Attorney and the FBI announced yet another indictment of someone who threatened my life,” Willis said. .
He added: “Thank you to US Attorney Ryan Buchanan, his staff and the FBI for believing that the life of an African-American elected official is worth living and for working diligently to keep me, my staff and our families safe.”
Willis has been under scrutiny for the past few months for her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor her office hired to help with the Trump case.
In January, Trump’s lawyers and several of his co-defendants accused Willis of illegally profiting from his relationship with Wade and asked for his ouster.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee in March ruled Willis could have continued the case, but he and Wade couldn’t work together on the case. Wade resigned shortly after McAfee’s decision.