KIEL, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Wednesday marked another day the City of Kiel was targeted by threats. But instead of just the middle school, the threats are now being aimed at other parts of the city.
All of the threats, the first coming in on May 23, have mentioned the Kiel Area School District’s investigation into students who allegedly used the non-preferred pronoun when referencing another student.
Now, for the sixth time, the Kiel Police Department is reporting another threat, in relation to that Title IX investigation by the school district.
Up until Wednesday, the threats had been directed at district schools, the district office, government buildings, the police department and the public library.
This time around, police say the threat said if the Kiel Area School District does not drop its Title IX complaint by Friday, multiple locations in the city will be targeted, including all stores. This is the first time an actual “deadline” has been given.
“Continuous coming threats from some,” said co-owner of the Kiel Country Store Bharat Biesta. “I don’t know from where, so it’s scary.”
Other store owners FOX 11 spoke to didn’t want to go on camera, because they said bringing more attention to these threats is only adding fuel to the fire.
Kiel Schools, all public and private, were also listed, along with all roads, city buildings, the Kiel Police Department, again, and the wastewater treatment plant.
“At the beginning, somebody threatened the high school,” Biesta recalled. “Right now, stores everywhere, even in the roads, everywhere.”
Kiel Police said the City of Kiel Emergency Management Team is working with local, state and federal authorities on this matter.
The department says it’s meeting and planning a response to any and all threats.
FOX 11 reached out to Kiel’s Police Chief Dave Funkhouser and, while he was unable to grant an on-camera interview, in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, he says the teams have been meeting all day and will continue to do so.
Meanwhile, Biesta says he’d like it if more additional information was available.
“We don’t get any news from police to see what happened.”
Given that the threat specifically gave the Kiel School District until Friday to drop the Title IX complaint against the three students, we also reached out to the district to see where it was with its investigation. We did not hear back from district officials.
FOX 11 also reached out to city officials at the wastewater treatment plant and the mayor for comment. We did not hear back from the city, and the
The Mayor of Kiel said he would not be commenting on the threats at this time and the city will not be releasing further information.
Comments