On April 13, a Juneau grand jury indicted Juneauite Mitchell Watley for terroristic threatening in the second degree.
According to Juneau police and FBI, Watley left threatening notes at various places of business in Juneau, featuring the transgender flag and an image of an assault rifle, with the words “feeling cute might shoot some children” printed on the cards. The words were in reference to a popular meme on social media known as the “feeling cute, might… challenge” and the transgender version of this note was posted right after a transgender in Nashville shot and killed six Christians as a school before being stopped dead by police.
It’s not clear if the notes were a threat or a commentary on current events and the state of society.
Upon receiving reports of the notes, officers launched an investigation and compared security camera footage to the locations where the notes were found. This led to the arrest of Watley, who was found to be present at one of the locations at the time a note was delivered.
Watley’s preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for April 21, was vacated. His next hearing is set for April 25 at 2:30 p.m.
Watley is a well-known Alaska-themed children’s book illustrator of books such as “I Would Tuck You In,” and “I Would Teach You To Fly,” and is currently out of jail on a $10,000 bond. His arrest sparked a wave of anger in the community, and most, if not all, sellers of his books have pulled them from the shelves and his publisher, an imprint of Penguin Books, has discontinued its relationship with Watley.
