A Michigan father is under high scrutiny after he was accused of threatening to torch McMonagle Elementary School and uttering racial slurs in a rage-filled tirade, authorities said. Thomas Latting, a 37-year-old resident of Flint Township, has been slapped with multiple felony charges, including a hate crime, for his outburst on Feb. 12.
On a chaotic afternoon at the school, Latting, who was there to pick up his child from an after-school activity, erupted into fury over dismissal procedures. At one point, he began spewing racial epithets and shouted, "I'm going to come back and kill all of you and burn this [expletive] to the ground," while pointing at the school and several of its staff members, according to Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, ClickOnDetroit reported.
The threat swiftly initiated a response from local police, as well as the involvement of the Michigan State Police and the FBI, with authorities taking Latting's aggressive behavior gravely serious, especially given his past criminal record, which includes a conviction for arson, explosives, and assault in 2009. Latting now faces a potential 20-year prison term if convicted on the terrorism charge alone. "Mr. Latting appears to have a volatile personality based not only on this incident, but his past criminal record," Leyton stressed in a statement obtained by WNEM Digital.
Leyton expressed disappointment over the limited punitive weight of the ethnic intimidation charge, which carries a mere two years, and revealed he is actively working to strengthen that law in collaboration with the Attorney General. "There’s just no place for it in our society," Leyton elucidated in a conversation reported by Local12. The accused's bond was set at $30,000 and he is due back in court for a probable cause conference on Thursday, Feb. 29.
School officials, including teachers and children, were reportedly shaken by the incident, with surveillance of Latting's residence immediately ordered as search warrants were drafted. When Latting left his home, a traffic stop led to his arrest, underscoring the swift action authorities were compelled to take amidst fears he could follow through on his threats.
