What at first glance looked like fairly typical decorations for Halloween in Stanton, Ky., actually featured the names of real elected officials, according to authorities. This threatening display has landed its alleged creator in jail.
Kentucky State Police revealed Tuesday that 58-year-old Stephan Marcum had been arrested and charged with third degree terroristic threatening and intimidating a witness in the legal process. He is being held at the Powell County Detention Center.
According to the state police, they were first notified of Marcum’s allegedly threatening decorations last Saturday and troopers began investigating the scene at the intersection of Court Street and North Main Street in Stanton. They found items placed in the yard that “indicated a perceived threat toward several individuals who serve as government officials in Powell County.”
A report from WKYT said the display showed fake bodies/body bags labelled with the names of city officials. It quoted an arrest citation that said Commonwealth Attorney Miranda King – a Democrat who was elected last September, per Ballotpedia – notified a Kentucky State Trooper about the decorations. She wasn’t the only one who noticed it.
“At first I didn’t know what to think about it because I actually drove by and [saw] it in his yard and I’m thinking you know, wow, you know, that’s kinda harsh,” said Powell County Judge Executive Eddie Barnes, who said he has known Marcum for decades.
While Barnes said Marcum can be a good person, the Powell County judge executive “disagrees with how he chose to express himself,” WKYT said. It also said the decorations were taken to Kentucky State Police Post 8 in Morehead, citing police.
Concerns about political violence have escalated this year following the murders of Democratic Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman and of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Analysis of the U.S. Constitution provided by Congress notes that: “The Supreme Court has cited three ‘reasons why threats of violence are outside the First Amendment,’” and these are “protecting individuals from the fear of violence, from the disruption that fear engenders, and from the possibility that the threatened violence will occur.”
According to Kentucky State Police, the investigation into Marcum’s decorations is ongoing and is being led by Trooper Austin Miller.