The Justice Department announced that Kenneth Pilon, 61, has been charged in federal district court with willfully intimidating and attempting to intimidate citizens from engaging in lawful speech and protests in support of Black Lives Matter.
According to the filed information, Pilon called nine Starbucks stores in Michigan and told the employees answering his calls to tell Starbucks employees wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts that “the only good n***er is a dead n***er.”
Pilon told one employee, “I’m gonna go out and lynch me a n***er.” Over the course of the next month, Pilon left four nooses in parking lots and a fifth noose inside of a 7-Eleven store.
Pilon attached each noose to a handwritten note, reading: “An accessory to be worn with your ‘BLM’ t-shirt. Happy protesting!”