Belleville man faces felony charge after threatening to blow up BND office, police say
A frequent Belleville News-Democrat caller and letter writer is facing charges for allegedly threatening by phone call and letter to use fertilizer and dynamite to blow up the BND’s office on the Belleville Public Square.
The St. Clair County state’s attorney’s office charged Stewart R. Lannert, 77, of Belleville, with falsely making a terrorist threat, a Class 1 felony; harassment by telephone, a Class B misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor.
“Belleville Detectives executed a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in the 300 Block of South 29th Street in Belleville,” according to a news release emailed Wednesday by the Belleville Police Department.
“The search warrant was executed on October 20. Detectives discovered the suspect was not able to carry out the threat as described via the voicemail left to the BND.”
Lannert is being held in the St. Clair County Jail on a $75,000 bond, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
The case started Friday with a nearly two-minute message on the BND’s voicemail from a man who didn’t identify himself by name but whose voice was recognized as Lannert’s by BND employees because of his past phone calls. The caller ID showed Lannert’s phone number and name. The caller also referred to unpublished letters that Lannert had sent to the BND.
The caller complained that people had vandalized his yard signs supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, thrown rocks at his window and torn an American flag off his car; that the BND and other newspapers are biased against Trump and in favor of former Vice President Joe Biden, his opponent in the Nov. 3 general election; and that the BND had declined to publish some of his letters to the editor.
“Well, anyway, I’m wondering what I should do with all this stockpile of fertilizer and dynamite I got in my basement,” the caller stated. “I don’t know what I should do with it yet, maybe blow up the doggone News-Democrat ‘cause they’re so biased against Trump.”
The BND later received an envelope postmarked Oct. 17 with a hand-printed letter from Lannert that again referred to unfair coverage of Trump by the news media and the BND’s failure to publish three of his letters to the editor.
The Oct. 17 letter ended with the following: “when I worked at Coal Mine They used tons of Amornia (sic) Nitrate and I saved some To Fertilize my Garden or put To Good Use Someway.”
Earlier this year, the BND sold its historic brick building on South Illinois Street and moved into the four-story, glass-surrounded Mathis, Marifian & Richter building on the northeast corner of the Belleville Public Square.
Lannert has been a regular contributor to the BND letters to the editor section since the late 1990s, writing up to a dozen letters per year, mostly about politics and criticizing Democratic officials. He’s called the BND office about 15 times in the past month.
“It’s not unusual for readers or other concerned members of the public to contact us about the things they see or read on our website or newspaper,” BND Senior Editor Todd Eschman said in a statement Wednesday. “But threats of this kind are rare, and we take them seriously.
“Given the current political environment and animus among some toward the media and the senseless deaths of five of our industry colleagues at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, two years ago, we cannot afford to take any threat to our lives or livelihoods lightly.
“We’re grateful to the Belleville Police Department for their professionalism in this investigation and for their work to protect us and our ability to do the job we must do every day.”
In 2018, gunman Jarrod Ramos killed five and injured two employees of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis. He was reportedly angry that the newspaper had published stories about a woman’s harassment claim against him. Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper that was dismissed by a judge, then he threatened an attack in calls and letters, but no legal action was taken.
In 2019, Ramos pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible, Maryland’s version of an insanity plea, to 23 counts, including five of first-degree murder. He’s now awaiting trial to determine if he’s criminally responsible.
Lannert currently has three other misdemeanor cases pending in St. Clair County Circuit Court:
- On Nov. 12, he’s scheduled to appear for a contempt of court hearing related to a ticket he received from Belleville police on Aug. 7 for criminal trespass to a building, a Class B misdemeanor.
- On Nov. 24, he’s scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing related to a Feb. 6 charge by the state’s attorney’s office for carrying a concealed firearm in an alcohol establishment, a Class A misdemeanor.
- On Nov. 24, he’s scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing related to a 2017 ticket he received from Belleville police for criminal trespass to a building, a Class B misdemeanor.
Previously, Lannert has pleaded guilty or been found guilty of three misdemeanors in St. Clair County, including disregarding a traffic-control device in 2011, harassment by telephone in 2010 and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol as a pedestrian in 2007.
Transcript of voicemail
Here is a transcript of the full voicemail message to the BND on Friday:
“Yeah, I’ve had my Trump signs vandalized three or four times, even rocks thrown at my front window, and my American flag on my car, which cost me $15 apiece ... That was tore off. I don’t know where it happened this last time, but then I seen it laying in the yard.
“Now I wouldn’t consider that worth valuable space in your newspaper, but I guess if it’s a Biden sign that got took down or something, that’s newsworthy, but I wouldn’t even consider my problems newsworthy. I called the police three times, but of course they can’t do nothing about it.
“Well, anyway, I’m wondering what I should do with all this stockpile of fertilizer and dynamite I got in my basement. I don’t know what I should do with it yet, maybe blow up the doggone News-Democrat ‘cause they’re so biased against Trump. It’s un-American, really. ... Newspapers should be unbiased, but of course, that ain’t the way it works in present-day America.
“My letters considering Joe Biden and his escapades in Ukraine and his son, that’s not been printed. My letters about Biden and the Democrats’ love affair with a 30-year member of the Ku Klux Klan, that’s sitting up there not printed. I even brought it up there personally and taped it on your window. ... Have a good day.”
Letter sent to BND
Here is Lannert’s full letter to the BND postmarked Oct. 17 (periods added to make it easier to read):
“I am 200 per cent disgrundled (sic) with The News media for The Flat out unfairness with the coverage of Trump vs Biden. I don’t need to say which candidate was favored. it is obvieus (sic) To anyone with half a brain. I Know I am stupid to think BND will print This as my 3 privious (sic) Letters have not been in paper. I guess they hit To (sic) close to BND’s Bias.
“when I worked at Coal Mine They used tons of Amornia (sic) Nitrate and I saved some To Fertilize my Garden or put To Good Use Someway.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 3:55 PM.
