Detroit Free Press – by Kevin Grasha
LANSING – Two Lansing men face terrorism charges after prosecutors say they made death threats against law enforcement following the recent fatal shootings involving Eaton County deputies.
Both men have been charged in separate incidents with threatening “to commit an act of terrorism” — a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Adam Thaddeus Wood, 36, is accused of making a threat on Feb. 17, court records show, the same day two Eaton County deputies shot and killed Matthew Lundy. Officials have said there was a confrontation and that Lundy, 32, had a gun.
The names of the deputies involved were not released until two weeks after the incident, so it’s unclear based on court records who Wood was threatening.
Wood’s Okemos-based attorney, Toby White, said about Wood: “I don’t think what he did qualified as a terrorist act.” White declined to comment further.
Wood, who is free on a $10,000 bond, also is charged with making a bomb threat and using a computer to commit a crime.
A hearing-impaired man, Earl Patterson, 36, is charged in the second alleged incident. Court records say that Patterson “did threaten to commit an act of terrorism and did communicate that threat to another person.” He will require a sign language interpreter in court, records show.
Patterson is accused of making a threat March 4 from his home on East Rouse Street. On that day, officials released the name the Eaton County sheriff’s sergeant who shot and killed 17-year-old Deven Guilford during a traffic stop as well as the names of the deputies in the February incident. The case against Patterson is not described further in court records, and officials have not described the nature of threat.
Patterson is free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, meaning he didn’t have to post any money. At his arraignment March 5 in 54A District Court, Magistrate Laura Millmore said he is not allowed to access Facebook or any other social media.
Patterson, a registered sex offender, also is charged with a violating that registration by not reporting his Facebook account and/or an email address within a certain time frame, according to court documents.
He did not have an attorney listed with the court.
What’s next
A preliminary hearing for Earl Patterson is set for March 23. A preliminary hearing for Adam Wood is set for March 30. The hearings, in 54A District Court, determine if either, or both, will stand trial.
Contact Lansing State Journal reporter Kevin Grasha: jgrasha@lsj.com
This shite s really getting deep.
If the American police are allowed to make death threats, and even try to murder on the street decause they don’t like. No laws broke. What right do they have to press charges? After they led the way in doing so and setting the example for such.