Report: Former federal official spoke of shooting a judge

CHICAGO – The Justice Department found that the former head of the U.S. Marshals Service’s Chicago office who stepped down last year without explanation made an “inappropriate comment about shooting a judge” during a firearms training exercise.

The Justice Department’s inspector general doesn’t identify Edward Gilmore in its report. But U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo tells the Chicago Tribune that Gilmore made the comment and that it was directed at him. He explained the two have had some “tough exchanges” over courthouse security and that Gilmore was apparently making a joke.

Gilmore was nominated in 2015 by then-President Barack Obama to head the office that protects federal judges.

The report says Gilmore acknowledged making the comment but that he was joking. He couldn’t be reached for comment.