WARREN, Mich. (WWJ) -- A West Michigan man is behind bars after allegedly threatening to sexually assault and kill a Warren police officer after watching her arrest someone in a YouTube video.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith tells WWJ 37-year-old Luke Louis of Muskegon called the Warren Police Department at least 50 times between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, threatening to rape and kill a female officer, whose name is not being released.
Louis, who calls himself a First Amendment rights advocate, had no previous interaction with the officer, but says he became enraged with her after seeing her make an arrest in a video on YouTube. That officer reportedly arrested a man who was protesting outside the Warren Tank Plant and a video of the incident had been posted online. According to a report from WXYZ, the subject in that case was taking photos and ignored questions from a responding officer after a complaint was made.
"On YouTube, he watched a video of Warren police officers arresting a guy who was protesting in front of TACOM and he didn't like the arrest and he didn't like what happened," Smith told WWJ.
Louis felt the person who was arrested had his First Amendment rights violated, Smith said.
Over the course of several days, Louis bombarded the police department with at least 50 phone calls made from a Google device and specifically threatened the officer each time. Louis allegedly threatened to rape and kill her, and made comments such as he "had bullets with her name on it" and was "going to shoot her today," according to Smith.
Smith said it was shocking for an officer to receive threats from someone they'd never had interaction with.
"This is the kind of thing that no officers have had to deal with before," Smith said. "Normally if an officer's threatened, it's because the officer arrested this guy and his friends are mad or his family is mad or his girlfriend or his wife, not somebody who just sees it on YouTube 200 miles away and has never had any contact."
Louis was arrested in Muskegon and taken to Warren, where he was charged with using a telecommunications device to commit a crime. Smith says that's a misdemeanor that carries up to six months of jail time, but prosecutors are exploring the possibility of more charges.
Louis is being held on a $15,000 bond until his next court appearance.
