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Chicago Buildings Inspector Charged With Threatening Illinois Senator Is Ordered Detained

Joseph Haggerty pleaded not guilty following his surrender to state police over explicit emails sent the day of a TV interview.

Overview

  • Haggerty, 59, faces two felony counts of threatening a public official for emails sent to state Sen. Andrew Chesney.
  • A Stephenson County judge ordered him held pending trial after he turned himself in to Illinois State Police in Cook County.
  • Investigators say the emails were sent Sept. 2 to Chesney’s government address on the day he spoke in a TV appearance about deploying National Guard troops to Chicago.
  • A police report quotes violent language from the messages and states Haggerty told investigators he was angry about politics and did not intend to harm anyone.
  • State police say his subsequent computer searches included terms like “heavy duty water balloons” and “rapid fire” or “fully automatic” paintball guns, and city records list him as a Buildings Department inspector.