A Bay Area man accused of sending racist death threats to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee is also alleged to have emailed violent threats about a federal judge, vowing to “skin” him, according to court filings and recent reporting. The allegations have spun into parallel Alameda County and federal cases, and prosecutors in federal court have already signaled they may seek additional charges. The suspect remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail while state and federal authorities press ahead.
Alameda County prosecutors have charged 45-year-old David Pokorny of El Cerrito with threatening a public official and added a hate-crime sentencing enhancement, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That county case stems from a string of alarming emails found in the mayor’s inbox, which Oakland staffers discovered in late September and promptly turned over to investigators.
Court documents describe a series of September emails that used racist language, called Black residents “enemy combatants,” and included other violent boasts, according to KQED. One message to Lee on Sept. 21 allegedly read, “You are a psychopath, and I’m going to torture and murder you.” Staff saved screenshots, loaded the messages onto a USB drive, and handed everything to detectives.
Federal Emails Named A Judge And Used The Word "Skin"
Federal prosecutors say the threats were not limited to City Hall. In filings reviewed by reporters, they allege Pokorny also sent 11 emails to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco on Sept. 2, targeting Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer and using language saying the sender wanted to “skin” him. An initial federal charge for threats against a judicial officer was filed on Oct. 14, 2025, according to The Press Democrat.
Breyer serves as a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to the Federal Judicial Center.
Legal Implications
Threats to federal judges are not treated as idle talk in federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 115, threatening a United States judge or other federal official is a federal crime that can carry up to 10 years in prison in many cases, as outlined in the U.S. Code. The Alameda County case comes with its own potential prison time, and prosecutors have layered on a hate-crime enhancement that could increase the sentence if Pokorny is convicted, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Grand Jury, Hearings And Next Steps
A federal preliminary hearing in Oakland was recently postponed after an assistant U.S. attorney raised the possibility of sending the case to a grand jury, which could return a superseding indictment and reshuffle the court calendar, according to SFist. A court order requires Pokorny to come back to federal court in the coming weeks for either an arraignment or an evidentiary hearing tied to any new indictment.
Mayor Barbara Lee’s office has publicly condemned the threats and said intimidation will not stop city officials from doing their jobs, local outlets reported. Her team has described the emails as credible and turned the messages over to law enforcement as soon as staff discovered them.
Pokorny has pleaded not guilty in county court and remains held at Santa Rita Jail while the two prosecutions move forward on separate tracks. Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Alameda County have declined to comment further, pointing to court filings and previously published statements.
