KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A judge has decided that a Kalamazoo-area man accused of sending threatening social media messages to officers is not fit to stand trial right now.
Brandon James owen was taken into custody for allegedly sending 292 Facebook messages, some of which contained violent content, to the Michigan State Police’s public page on the site.
Detectives and troopers with the Michigan State Police Paw Paw Post located and arrested Owen at his home on September 25th, and also seized several airsoft guns, body vests and firearms while investigating his property.
MSP says that they were grew concerned over time as Owen continued to share increasingly graphic images, including video footage of execution-style killing and dismemberment along with specific threats to kill officers.
While investigating the suspect, state troopers became aware of an ongoing investigation by the Portage Department of Public Safety over previous threats he had made to officers there.
The 29-year-old was arraigned in September for one count of making terrorist threats and one count of using a computer to commit a crime, which could have been punishable with up to 20 years in prison.
After providing conflicting and at times incomprehensible testimony to investigators, Owen became subject to a court-mandated mental exam from which he was determined to be incompetent to stand trial.
According to court procedures, he will then be subject to a 15 month timeline in order to reachieve competency. If Owen fails to in time, prosecutors could seek to file an order for the defendant to be committed to a psychiatric institution and have the case dismissed.
