Hate crime charges follow threats against Seattle mayor, councilwoman Police: Magnolia man threatened to kill Murray, Sawant in anti-gay Facebook posts

This image, taken from a video posted to Youtube, shows Mitchell Taylor, a Magnolia man charged with threatening to kill Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and councilwoman Kshama Sawant. Taylor, 32, is identified by police as the man shown in the video and others. less This image, taken from a video posted to Youtube, shows Mitchell Taylor, a Magnolia man charged with threatening to kill Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and councilwoman Kshama Sawant. Taylor, 32, is identified by ... more Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Hate crime charges follow threats against Seattle mayor, councilwoman 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

A Magnolia man accused of threatening Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Councilwoman Kshama Sawant was charged with a host of offenses Wednesday, including cyberstalking and hate crimes.

King County prosecutors contend Mitchell Munro Taylor threatened to kill Murray, the city’s first openly gay mayor, and Sawant, an outspoken socialist, in a series of vitriolic emails sent to both shortly after they were sworn into office earlier in January.

Taylor, 32, is alleged to have posted dozens of “frightening and rage-filled” messages on Murray’s Facebook page. Some of those messages referred to Sawant, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Gary Ernsdorff said in court papers.

“The posting included many homophobic slurs, a description of killing babies, rape and death references, and several menacing references to Harvey Milk,” said Ernsdorff, referring to the San Francisco politician and gay civil rights leader killed alongside that city’s mayor in 1978.

Currently jailed, Taylor is alleged to have left dozens of offensive posts on Jan. 14, nine days after Murray, Sawant and the rest of Seattle’s elected leaders were sworn in.

Writing the court, a Seattle detective said the Mayor’s Office contacted police after spotting the hateful comments.

The comments filed with the court show repeated nonsensical anti-gay slurs, a request that Murray kill himself and a threat to kill Mexican babies. The writer – Taylor, according to police – went on to assert feminists should be raped and that police should be killed.

Taylor’s Facebook page linked to a video which police used to identify him through state records, the detective continued. He was arrested Jan. 16 and has been jailed since on $600,000 bail.

Taylor was charged Wednesday with malicious harassment – the state’s hate crime law – and two counts of cyberstalking, as well as one count of harassment. He is expected to be arraigned Feb. 5 at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.