A Milwaukee man who threatened a county judge on Facebook is staying out of prison, but he will be under tight watch from the courts. On Tuesday, Glenn Patterson Jr. was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered into a slate of court-supervised programs instead of serving time behind bars. A jury had convicted him in June after a two-day trial, finding that his posts came on the heels of a contentious child-support contempt hearing last year. The judge on the case said the conditions were designed to protect both the public and the judiciary.
What He Posted And How Police Responded
According to prosecutors, Patterson took to Facebook on June 4, 2025, and posted a series of violent messages. One read, "it's all fun & games ... until the judge get found breathless with holes in his face!" A second warned, "watch out before it be a bang out." He removed the messages not long after, but the damage was already done. A petitioner in his child-support case saw the posts, alerted authorities, and Patterson was arrested the next day, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Sentence, Conditions And Warnings From The Bench
Presiding Judge Jack Dávila handed down two years of probation and ordered Patterson into anger-management and parenting courses. The sentence also requires absolute sobriety, steady enrollment in school or regular work, and a strict ban on contacting or posting about Judge William Pocan.
"Whether you meant it or not, it was a threat," Dávila told Patterson in court. Paperwork in the case notes that if Patterson violates any terms of his supervision, he could face more than two years of initial confinement along with a period of extended supervision. The same court record states that the felony conviction means Patterson can no longer legally possess firearms, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Victim Impact And A Wider Problem In Wisconsin Courts
At sentencing, Judge William Pocan addressed the court and said Patterson had "threatened to kill me" for carrying out his duties, citing case materials reviewed in the hearing. His statement was not just personal. Officials and local media coverage have pointed to a broader rise in identifiable threats targeting judges across Wisconsin in recent years, a trend that has pushed lawmakers and court leaders to talk about beefing up security for judges and courthouses. Local reporting has tracked those threat numbers and the ongoing policy debate around how to keep court personnel safe.
Legal Context And Consequences
Wisconsin law treats threats against judges as a serious felony offense. The state statute and related jury instructions spell out what qualifies as a "true threat" and require proof that the defendant knew the target was acting in an official capacity. Beyond the state charge, federal law generally bars many people with felony convictions from owning or possessing firearms, so a felony threat case can bring immediate collateral fallout that goes beyond the formal sentence.
Court officials also emphasized that probation is not a free pass. If a defendant on supervision breaks the rules, judges can revoke probation and impose substantial confinement, a possibility prosecutors underscored during Patterson’s sentencing. For statutory context, see the Wisconsin State Law Library and federal firearms law resources cited below.
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