A San Diego man was arrested and charged Tuesday on accusations of sending a threatening email to a member of the LGBTQ community who had spoken out last year in a news report against the killing of a woman who had hung a Pride flag outside her business near Lake Arrowhead.
George Joseph Wellinger II, 48, allegedly threatened the victim in an email after seeing the news report, writing “we coming for ur rainbow azz.” Wellinger was arraigned Tuesday in federal court in San Diego on an indictment charging him with one count of transmitting a threatening communication, prosecutors said. The charge carries a five-year maximum prison sentence.
The indictment was not publicly available late Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors said the indictment alleges that Wellinger targeted his victim because of her sexual orientation.
Prosecutors said the victim of Wellinger’s threatening message had appeared in a KTLA story about the slaying of 66-year-old Laura Carleton last October in the Lake Arrowhead area in San Bernardino County. Authorities have said that Carleton’s killer, 27-year-old Travis Ikeguchi, tore down Carleton’s rainbow Pride flag and made several homophobic remarks before shooting her.
Ikeguchi, who was later killed by law enforcement officers, had also written and shared hateful posts about the LGBTQ community on social media, according to San Bernardino County officials.
In the KTLA news report, friends, family and members of the LGBTQ community spoke out against the slaying of Carleton, a mother of nine who was an ally of the LGBTQ community. Prosecutors said Wellinger identified his victim through that news segment.
His email called the victim “another alphabet clown that wants to take a dirt nap, too,” according to prosecutors. It continued in part: “We know what you look like and know where are you are … only a matter of time … we coming for ur rainbow azz. Click Click!!!!”
It was not immediately clear Tuesday if Wellinger had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
“Hate crimes are designed (to) terrify both the victim and the community,” U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office works tirelessly on prosecuting these cases to send our own message: San Diego is no place for hate.”
Prosecutors said that during Tuesday’s initial appearance, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Major set a $50,000 bond for Wellinger and ordered home detention and electronic monitoring.
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