OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — Jury selection concluded Monday in the federal criminal trial of a Bay Area man charged with sending threatening emails, claiming he wanted the recipient to “visualize skinning” a federal judge and kill other government officials.
Prosecutors say David Brooks Pokorny, a 45-year-old from El Cerrito, California, made threats through email messages to assault, kidnap or murder U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in September 2025. Pokorny is charged with felony threats against a judicial officer, with a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Almost a dozen emails were sent to the federal court’s media email system on Sept. 2, 2025, with the first stating, “This is terrorism.” After sending several escalating emails every few minutes, Pokorny sent in an email with the single sentence: “I want you to visualize skinning U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer to death.”…