Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis attends a hearing on Georgia election interference cases in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on March 1, 2024. This hearing is intended to determine whether Willis should be removed from her case because of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. She was hired in the election interference case against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Alex Slitz | via Reuters
A federal grand jury in Atlanta has indicted a California man on charges of threatening Fulton County District Attorney Fanny 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 is scheduled to be arraigned in Atlanta in June, according to the Justice Department.
According to court documents, Schultz repeatedly posted comments threatening violence toward Willis on a YouTube livestream in October, including one that said Willis would be “killed like a dog.”
The indictment details more threats made by Schultz, including a threat that “FANI WILLIS WILL DIE IN 2024” and other threats that used racial slurs.
Willis is leading one of four major criminal cases against former President Donald Trump, charging him with felony racketeering and conspiracy for working to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. She has faced racist threats against her since her own office began its investigation into Trump.
“Threats of violence against government officials especially threaten the very foundations 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 mentioned Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, who is leading the investigation by Willis’ office.
“On the same day that Senator Bill Cowsert had the audacity to question whether an elected African-American female district attorney deserved protection from death threats, the U.S. Attorney and the FBI took action against the person who threatened my life,” Willis said in a statement. “We have announced another indictment,” he said. .
She added, “I am grateful to U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan, his staff, and the FBI for believing that the lives of African American elected officials are valuable and for working diligently to ensure the safety of me, my staff, and our families.”
Willis has been under investigation for the past several months because of her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor hired by her office to help with Trump’s case.
In January, Trump and some of his co-defendants accused Willis of improperly benefiting financially from her relationship with Wade and sought to disqualify her from the case.
Last March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could continue to prosecute the case, but Willis and Wade could not pursue the case together. Wade resigned from the case shortly after McAfee’s decision.
