Juneau man arrested for anti-transgender notes that threatened children, police say

JUNEAU — A Juneau children’s book illustrator was arrested Sunday for allegedly placing several anti-transgender notes across the city, which police said made violent threats against children.

Juneau Police Department said the business card-sized notes showed an image of the transgender flag behind an image of an assault rifle. The text read: “Feeling cute. Might shoot some children.”

The notes were found Friday morning at a Juneau supermarket and later in the day on a bulletin board inside the State Office Building, police said. A Costco employee found similar notes in the store on Sunday and alerted police.

Juneau police said they reviewed security camera footage and arrested Mitchell Watley, 47, on a charge of second-degree terroristic threatening, a Class C felony. The footage showed Watley placing a note in a store, according to the charges. The charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

According to charging documents, Watley told police he was “in fear” after a recent school shooting in Tennessee that left six people dead, and he “took it upon himself to print out and distribute the leaflets.” Tennessee police said the school shooter was transgender.

Watley is a Juneau-based illustrator, originally from Texas. He illustrated the popular Alaska children’s book, “I Would Tuck You In,” among other titles for kids.

There was not a specific threat made against children, but the Juneau School District was notified and there were “heightened security measures” taken, which included having officers at schools over the weekend, police said. The FBI assisted in the investigation.

Assistant District Attorney Rexene Finley said during Watley’s first court hearing Monday that some parents took their children out of school Friday when the first notes were found. Finley said with recent mass shootings in the Lower 48, Watley had threatened Alaska’s most vulnerable populations: children and the transgender community.

“We have the right to live free of violence and free of fear,” she said.

Judge Kirsten Swanson agreed with the prosecutor’s request for Watley to pay a $10,000 cash performance bond to be released from Lemon Creek Correctional Center and that he would be supervised on electronic monitoring. Watley would be prohibited from going to places where children congregate.

“I imagine it did frighten a lot of parents.” Swanson said about the notes.

Watley’s attorney did not dispute the bail or release conditions. Watley appeared in court telephonically from jail.

The first set of notes were found on International Transgender Visibility Day, which is an annual celebration of transgender people that also raises awareness of discrimination. Rallies were held across the country to denounce state legislation seen as threatening the transgender community.