Former LA Mayor Karen Bass’ senior staffer sentenced to probation for fake bomb threat at City Hall

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former member of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ senior staff was sentenced Monday to a year of probation for calling in a fake bomb threat to City Hall while attending a virtual meeting in 2024.

During his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court, Brian K. Williams admitted that he falsely told police in October 2024 that he had received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who said he had placed a bomb in City Hall, the Los Angeles Times reported. Williams was a longtime law enforcement oversight official who served as Bass’ deputy mayor of public safety.

“The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda’,” Williams wrote in the text, according to prosecutors. He said he contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, which sent officers to search the building.

Williams’ lawyer Dmitry Gorin cited “undiagnosed mental health challenges,” for which he said his client has undergone treatment, the newspaper said.

Prosecutors said in a presentencing memo that Williams reported the threat, “after he became overwhelmed with stress and anxiety and desperate to get out of an ongoing meeting.”

Williams agreed in May to plead guilty to a single count of threats regarding fire and explosives.

Prosecutors noted that Williams has no prior criminal arrests or convictions.