A man from suburban Chicago has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for making threats against employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local law enforcement officers. Darren D. Walton, 31, of Midlothian, Illinois, made over 100 phone calls to FEMA related to a disaster assistance application he filed for alleged flood damage to his vehicle in 2023. Many of these calls included threats of violence.
In one call, Walton told a FEMA employee: “Y’all better stop [expletive] playing with me, bro. Before there be a mass shooting in a little bit, bro. Real talk. And I’ll smile in court on camera on the news, letting ‘em knowing I killed them [expletive] ‘cause you was playing with me, bro.”
After FEMA reported the calls to local law enforcement, officers from the Midlothian Police Department conducted a welfare check at Walton’s residence. Following this visit, Walton’s threats extended to police officers as well. The day after the welfare check, he stated in another call: “Send ‘em again. And I’ll kill the [expletive]. Tell them I kill they [expletive] this time. I’m ready to kill. And I’m going to kill. And I’m gonna make sure I kill. I’m going to kill a good four, five officers before the police even take me out the [expletive], guaranteed.”
Walton pleaded guilty earlier this year to transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger handed down the two-year sentence during a hearing held Wednesday in federal court in Chicago.
The sentencing was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. The investigation was led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security / Federal Protective Service-Region 5 with valuable assistance from the Midlothian Police Department.
“Defendant’s threats were terrifying to the FEMA employees who received them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Rosenbloom stated in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The FEMA employees who received the calls were public servants doing their job. They did not deserve to be exposed to the terrifying threats contained in defendant’s calls.”
