Woodchipper and bomb threats on social media allegedly traced to Chicago-area prosecutor
A Wheaton, Illinois, man is facing charges for allegedly posting threats on social media made while he was an assistant state’s attorney in DuPage County, Illinois, outside Chicago. (Image from Shutterstock)
A Wheaton, Illinois, man is facing charges for allegedly posting threats on social media made while he was an assistant state’s attorney in DuPage County, Illinois, outside Chicago.
Samuel J. Cundari, 30, is facing a federal charge of transmitting a threat to injure another person in interstate commerce, according to a May 24 press release by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of Illinois.
The Chicago Sun-Times and Law360 have coverage.
The threats of violence by a woodchipper and a bomb were made on X, formerly known as Twitter, in March and May.
The earlier post tagged two Illinois state representatives involved in the passage of gun-control legislation, the Illinois attorney general, three gun-control groups and a volunteer with one of the groups, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit cited by Law360.
The post read: “Our patience grows short with you. The day we put your kids feet first into a woodchipper so we can enjoy their last few screams is coming.”
Democratic Illinois State Rep. Bob Morgan, who sponsored a bill banning assault weapons, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was one of the targeted lawmakers.
The May post appeared to be a response to an ad for the Springfield, Illinois, PrideFest. It read: “I sure hope NOBODY leaves a pressure cooker filled with ball bearings, glass and nails, filled with diesel fuel and fertilizer, with the over pressure safety valve disabled, near a natural gas line. That would be VERY sad and VERY unfortunate.”
Cundari told the FBI that he was responsible for the posts, but they were a joke intended to “get the goat” of another user, according to the affidavit.
A spokesperson for the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office told Law360 that Cundari was fired when it learned of the allegations. Cundari had worked in the office’s misdemeanor division for 16 months.
