BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested after allegedly threatening a judge to employees of the county Community Corrections and Day Report Center.
Matthew W. George, 40, of Buckhannon, was arrested for threats of terrorist acts, a felony.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Cpl. T.R. Collins with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on Feb. 2, 2024, Collins received information about George threatening 26th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Kurt Hall.
Collins went to the Community Corrections and Day Report Center, located at 85 West Main Street in Buckhannon, where he reportedly located George crouching outside on the sidewalk.
According to the report, Collins began talking to George regarding these comments. George stated he did not make any threats towards Judge Hall, but rather towards the officers “who woke him up last night.”
A home confinement officer went inside the Day Report Center and took body camera statements from employees who heard the threats. The employees stated George allegedly said, “after he lost his kids today, he would kick Judge Hall in the [genitalia], drag him off his pedestal, and whip his [expletive].’”
George was told it was illegal to threaten a duly elected official; he then allegedly admitted to making the statement.
George was placed under arrest and transported to the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office. While he was being transported, George allegedly admitted he should not act like “a dumb [expletive].’”
Bail was set at $100,000 cash only by Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder.
The potential penalty for a conviction of threats of terrorist acts is a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000 or confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years, or both.
