Suspect in Michigan Walmart stabbings charged with rarely used state terrorism count
Prosecutor said the assault was intended to ‘put fear in the entire community’. The terror charge was adopted after the 9/11 attacks in 2001
A Michigan prosecutor filed a terrorism charge on Monday against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart shop. The charge has been rarely used in the state’s courts since it was adopted more than 20 years ago during the national outrage over September 11.
But proving that could be difficult. Bradford Gille, 42, has a history of mental health problems. A judge signed an order on Friday, the day before the attack, telling police to find him and take him to a hospital because he was considered a risk to himself or others. Police said they were unable to find him.
Moeggenberg also filed attempted murder charges, one for each Walmart stabbing victim. A not-guilty plea was entered for Gille and bond was set at US$100,000.
Tobacco companies are “selling cigarettes with fibreglass and chemicals in ’em just to kill off the population. You can’t really accuse me of anything if you’re doing that”, Gille said in court.
The Michigan Legislature in 2002 created and amended a stack of anti-terrorism laws after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.