A Detroit man has been charged in connection with making a terrorist threat after officials say he threatened to harm Mayor Mary Sheffield and to shoot up Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown Detroit.
Sterling Anthony Peters, 55, is accused of trying to walk into Sheffield’s office in the municipal center about 9 a.m. Oct. 5, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. He threatened to shoot up the building as officers escorted him out, officials said.
Prosecutors say Peters went to the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters thereafter and threatened to physically harm the mayor as he was escorted out of that building.
Peters is expected to be arraigned on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 18 on one count of false
report or threat of terrorism.
Such threats are not unsual, said John Roach, spokesman for the mayor's office, in a statement.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time Mayor Sheffield has received some form of threat," he said. "It is a sad reality that threats against public officials, especially women, have become all too commonplace.”
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, in a statement, said such threats to officials are on the rise and will not be tolerated.
An attorney for Peters could not immediately be identified for comment.
The charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a fine up to $20,000, or both.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Man accused of threatening Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield
