Former Los Angeles deputy mayor of public safety Brian Williams was sentenced to one year of probation, 50 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine in the US District Court on Monday for calling in a fake bomb threat to City Hall.
Williams, a former senior staffer of LA mayor Karen Bass, made these claims after growing “desperate” to get out of a virtual meeting.
The 61-year-old admitted to falsely informing police back in October 2024 that he had received a call on his city-issued cellphone from an unknown man who claimed he had placed a bomb in City Hall, a Los Angeles Times report confirms.
Prosecutors said in a statement that the former government official used a Google Voice app on his personal cellphone to make a bomb threat to his city-issued cellphone during a video call.
Williams then left the virtual meeting and called the Chief of Staff of the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging he received a phone call from a man who threatened to bomb the Los Angeles City Hall.
About 10 minutes later, he sent a text message to the Los Angeles Mayor and multiple high-ranking city officials in the Mayor’s office, writing, “Bomb threat: I received a phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning.”
“The male caller stated that he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.”
“I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat,” he texted.
Prosecutors, however, said Williams never received a call and “had made the bomb threat himself”, adding that he never actually intended to carry out the hoax.
Officers confirmed the threat was not credible after they responded to the scene, and investigators later learned an incoming call record from a blocked number was the call Williams had placed to himself.
Brian Williams also texted Mayor Bass and other high-ranking officials, “At this time, there is no need for us to evacuate the building. I’m meeting with the threat management officers within the next 10 minutes. In light of the Jewish holidays, we are taking this thread a little more seriously. I will keep you posted.”
Back in May, Williams agreed to plead guilty to a single count of threats regarding fire and explosives. He faced a maximum sentence of a decade behind bars.
Williams’ lawyer Dmitry Gorin revealed that the public official was suffering from “undiagnosed mental health challenges,” for which he said his client has undergone treatment, the LA Times reported.
He reported the sham threat, “after he became overwhelmed with stress and anxiety and desperate to get out of an ongoing meeting,” prosecutors wrote in a presentencing memo.
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Police confirmed Williams has no prior criminal convictions or arrests.
