PORTLAND, Ore.—Kermit Tyler Poulson, 40, was sentenced today
to 14 months in federal prison and one year of supervised release for
transmitting threatening communications with the intent to extort Portland
Mayor Ted Wheeler.
“Using social media to threaten violence against any person
regardless of that person’s position in our community is wrong. The Portland
JTTF actively investigates all threats of violence,” said Billy J. Williams,
U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon. “Federal law enforcement will
continue working with our state and local partners to respond quickly to
threats. These partnerships prevent many horrific acts of violence from
occurring.”
“True threats victimize individuals and undermine the
foundations that make our country a place where we can disagree, debate and
find common ground,” said Renn Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in
Oregon. “The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and our partners remain committed
to keeping our shared community free of violence and intimidation.”
According to court documents, on October 9, 2018, Poulson
posted multiple threatening comments on Mayor Wheeler’s personal Instagram
account. Poulson threatened to firebomb the mayor’s home and office if he did
not immediately fire Portland police officers recently involved in an on-duty
shooting. Investigators tracked the IP address associated with the comments to
a Portland residence where Poulson was staying. Poulson was present when
investigators searched the property and after initially making a number of
misleading statements, admitted that he alone was responsible for the comments.
On July 3, 2019, Poulson pleaded guilty to one count of
transmitting threatening communications with the intent to extort Mayor
Wheeler.
This case was investigated by the Portland FBI Joint
Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). The Portland
JTTF includes FBI special agents and more than a dozen state and local law
enforcement officers.
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