Suspect in Michigan Walmart stabbings is charged with a rarely used state terrorism count

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan prosecutor filed a terrorism charge Monday against a man accused of stabbing 11 people at a Walmart store. The charge has been rarely used in the state’s courts since it was adopted more than 20 years ago during the national outrage over 9/11.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg said she believes the charge fits because the weekend attack was intended to “put fear in the entire community and to change how maybe we operate on a daily basis.”

But proving that could be difficult. Bradford Gille, 42, has a history of mental health problems. A judge signed an order Friday, the day before the attack, telling police to find him and take him to a hospital because he was considered a risk to himself or others. Police said they were unable to find him.

Moeggenberg also filed attempted murder charges, one for each Walmart stabbing victim. A not-guilty plea was entered for Gille, and bond was set at $100,000.

A look at Michigan’s terrorism law:

Lawmakers respond to 9/11

The Michigan Legislature in 2002 created and amended a stack of anti-terrorism laws after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.

A terrorism crime is defined as an act “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence or affect the conduct of government or a unit of government through intimidation or coercion.” A conviction carries a sentence of up to life in prison.

“I don’t see the prosecutor being able to establish this,” sad Margaret Raben, a Detroit-area lawyer who has served as president of a statewide association of defense attorneys. “It seems to have been a random thing, and the fact that he injured 11 people doesn’t make it any less random.”

Gille’s mental health will be an issue. He’ll likely be evaluated to determine if he understands the charges and can assist his lawyer. Experts will also determine if he can be held criminally responsible.

In 2016, Gille was accused of smashing a cemetery vault that had not yet been covered with grass, one of many encounters with local police over many years. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to Emmet County court records.

“He never should have been out on the street. It was just sad,” Karl Crawford, superintendent of Greenwood Cemetery in Petoskey, Michigan, told The Associated Press.

School shooter convicted of terrorism

There’s no dispute that a terrorism charge is rare in Michigan. Wayne County, the largest in the state, has never used it, according to Maria Miller, a spokesperson for the prosecutor.

The biggest case: the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in which four students were killed and more were wounded. Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to terrorism, murder and other crimes, and is serving a life sentence. He had planned the attack.

It was the first time that a school shooter was convicted of terrorism in the United States, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said.

“The sheer force of destruction, violence, trauma and murder the shooter caused that day did not stop at the doorway of Oxford High School. It was carried through the doors and out into the community,” McDonald said.