Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II said that a bomb threat that authorities investigated Thursday, Sept. 11 in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood targeted the place where he and his family live.
“The threat has been cleared, and I am grateful to law enforcement for their quick response and for keeping my family and our neighborhood safe,” Gilchrist said in a statement.
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist speaks to a crowd before Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signs into law bills that would allow police officers, family members and medical professionals to ask courts to issue an extreme risk protection order to temporarily take away guns from those who pose a danger to themselves or others on Monday, May 22, 2023, outside of the 44th District Court in Royal Oak.
He noted that the incident comes in the wake of the slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Spet. 10 at Utah Valley University. “I know that people are on edge — it’s a scary time. This incident came just a day after the murder of Charlie Kirk and in the midst of an escalating pattern of political violence in Michigan and in America,” Gilchrist said. Like many elected officials in Michigan, Gilchrist condemned such violence which he said tries “to silence, intimidate, and eliminate people and their voices from our society.” Gilchrist, a Democrat, is currently running to be Michigan’s next governor.
Spokespeople for the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking additional information on the threat and whether it was specifically directed at Gilchrist, who lives in a multi-unit condo building in southwest Detroit.
Detroit Police: Corktown bomb threat cleared; no danger found
Detroit police officials said they didn’t find anything after a threat was reported in the area where Gilchrist lives and prompted a large police and fire presence.
“We received information about a possible bomb threat, and the bomb squad checked it out and nothing was found. The all clear was given,” DPD Public Information Officer Jackson Vidaurri previously told the Free Press following a preliminary review of the incident, which remains under investigation.
When the Free Press arrived on the scene in the late afternoon Sept. 11, a lone police car was present near Gilchrist’s residence.
Staff writer Nour Rahal contributed with previous reporting.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lt. Gov. Gilchrist says bomb threat targeted home