Man charged with threatening Wichita mayor over mask mandate

A 59-year-old man who prosecutors say threatened Wichita’s mayor because he was upset about a mask mandate has been charged

TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas man who prosecutors say threatened to kidnap and kill Wichita’s mayor because he was upset with the city’s mask ordinance was charged Tuesday with three counts of criminal threat.

Dowty’s bond was continued at $50,000 and his next court date was set for Nov. 5.

“He said he was going to kidnap me and slash my throat and he needed my address because I needed to see the hangman,” Whipple said Saturday after the threats were revealed.

“It’s imperative that we turn down the rhetoric — the anti-science, anti-mask rhetoric,” Kelly said. “We see what’s going on, what it has done here with the mayor of Wichita and elsewhere such as Michigan.”

Members of a self-appointed militia group are facing charges accusing them of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The FBI and Michigan law enforcement have charged 14 men in connection with a domestic terrorism plot.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus claimed the life of a sixth Kansas inmate Monday. The inmate, who was serving a life sentence for four sex crime convictions from Wyandotte County, was housed at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility. He is among about 2,500 inmates and more than 300 prison workers statewide to be infected.

The Kansas Department of Corrections said in a news release that the inmate’s family has asked that his name not be released. He was 60 and had underlying medical conditions.

source: abcnews.go.com