Fired Home Depot worker accused of threatening Miami law firm

Charles T. Johnson experienced labored for 16 a long time as a salesman at a Residence Depot retailer in the Fort Lauderdale area, till he was fired in 2004 for failing to display up on the job.

Johnson, who is Black, sued the big home-creating offer chain in a racial discrimination assert in excess of his termination — but shed. He was even requested to shell out the company’s lawful expenditures of $2,922.57, courtroom records clearly show.

Flash forward a lot of years: Johnson has been charged in federal courtroom with cyberstalking and threatening to shoot attorneys at Miami’s Morgan, Lewis & Bockius legislation company who represented Home Depot in his labor dispute, according to an indictment and a felony complaint. Johnson pleaded not responsible at his arraignment Friday in Miami federal court. The general public defender’s business office, which is representing him, did not react to a ask for for remark.

An FBI affidavit filed with the criticism states that Johnson remaining voicemail messages threatening to injure and eliminate legal professionals at Morgan, Lewis as properly employees at Property Depot.

“”You assume I like executing this? I don’t,” Johnson said in a Nov. 22, 2020, voicemail still left for the lead Morgan, Lewis lawyer in his employment lawsuit. “Let it go … result in the only thing that is gonna come about if I get it, I’m possibly gonna get it to the media, or I’m gonna go purchase me a total bunch of guns. That’s what you want?”

That exact same working day, Johnson left a different voicemail for the Morgan, Lewis lawyer, alluding to mass shootings in faculties nationwide and in Las Vegas. “Let it go, simply because like I stated, I recognize why people are heading and getting these significant run rifles and guns and armament that they use to combat wars. … I comprehend this [is] why somebody would go in a purchasing mall, for the reason that of the exact bullshit I’m heading via, I know they went as a result of it.”

In overall, in accordance to an FBI affidavit, Morgan, Lewis documented in December that Johnson left 60 “harassing” voicemail messages with a number of lawyers at the Brickell Avenue regulation company above a a person-week time period and that Property Depot obtained comparable voicemails from him. House Depot’s corporate business office informed FBI agents that Johnson identified as and left 155 voicemails with quite a few company workers over a two-thirty day period time period.

“I never got a entire whole lot of cash to go to the gun retailer, and you know what I’m expressing,” stated just one information left with a Household Depot worker on Nov. 27, 2020. “They could possibly do some thing to force me over the edge. You fully grasp wherever I’m likely with this?”

Throughout the FBI investigation, agents received a letter dated June 2007 that Johnson experienced despatched to MetLife Insurance coverage Organization, which at the time was the benefits administrator for House Depot. In the letter, Johnson, who experienced been fired and lost his employment discrimination scenario, wrote that he “had a strategy to get rid of as a lot of of Property Depot workforce as I could and then destroy [himself].”

In response, House Depot issued a “risk defense order” in Broward County, stating that “Johnson was not permitted to have any contact with Hd or its personnel,” the affidavit says.

What is not crystal clear from the FBI affidavit is why Johnson, who lives in Lauderhill but is now detained ahead of demo, would start harassing employees at the Morgan, Lewis regulation firm and Home Depot so several yrs soon after he was fired from his position at the Oakland Park shop. Johnson also began directing his treats at other targets that ended up not included in his work dispute with Property Depot.

Neither the legislation firm nor Household Depot returned requests for comment for this story.

In early January of this yr, Dwelling Depot’s corporate protection contacted the FBI about yet another threatening voicemail still left with a company personnel. “Obviously someone ain’t having the information. … The Seminole Challenging Rock, I’m likely to shut them down 1st. … It is likely to be Seminole Tricky Rock then it’s likely to be Florida Lottery. … And it is heading to be in that order.”