Denver Police Received Warning Over Shooter Shooting And Books Nearly A Year Before The Murders – Greeley Tribune

Denver Police received a warning a year ago about the man who killed five people in an attack on the Denver subway and the book the gunman wrote detailing some of the murders.

A German contacted Denver 311 on January 3, 2021 about Lyndon McLeod and wrote: “I think there is a small, but undeniable, possibility that the accused could carry out a terrorist attack.

German Andre Thiele said in an interview with the Denver Post on Monday that he contacted Denver Police after reading McLeod’s books and participating in a discussion forum for fans of the book. The shooter participated in the chat and made increasingly alarming statements that prompted Thiele to contact authorities, Thiele said. Thiele also submitted an online advice to the FBI and mailed them a letter, he said.

“I cannot in good conscience say he will act with certainty,” Thiele wrote in a letter to Denver Police, which he provided to The Post. “But I can say that If he had to act, the result would be devastating. He would stop at nothing then.

Denver Police confirmed on Tuesday that they received a tip from someone in Germany in January 2021 citing concerns about McLeod, including reports of fraud involving a potential victim outside Colorado. Denver Police were unable to link McLeod to a Denver address and had no reason to believe McLeod was living in Denver at the time, Denver Police spokesman Doug Schepman said in a statement.

“DPD is reviewing the investigation, but based on our initial review, there was not enough evidence to lay criminal or legal charges to monitor McLeod at the time,” Schepman said.

The January 2021 investigation review will also include whether detectives read McLeod’s books, Schepman said. The self-published books described a character named “Lyndon MacLeod” killing some of the people he killed in his wave of violence on December 27.

Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen previously said McLeod was the subject of two police investigations: one in 2020 and one in early 2021. He refused at a press conference on Dec. 28 to specify the nature of the inquiries.

FBI officials have not released any information about what they knew about McLeod before the murders. They declined to answer questions from The Post on December 29 and 30 and did not respond to an email Tuesday regarding Thiele’s tip.

Email recordings provided by Thiele to the Denver Post show that a Denver Police Detective contacted Thiele by email on January 4, 2021 and said he would look into her concerns. Thiele sent Detective two documents outlining her concerns about McLeod and including statements made by McLeod in the chat room that worried Thiele. He included a link to a listing of McLeod’s book on Amazon.

“While the book is not per se political, it could be read as a far-right manifesto and a terrorist prophecy,” Thiele wrote in one of the documents.

“It may well be that the accused is the typical case of a literary genius and a little thug, who runs his mouth and talks too much,” Thiele wrote. “I would say from my personal experiences that it could be a 90% chance. But there’s a 10% chance that he – at least in his mind – created the perfect storm of right-wing terrorism. “

The detective responded a few minutes later thanking Thiele for contacting Denver Police and said he would contact him if he had any further questions.

This was the last time Thiele heard of the department, Thiele said, although he later heard from at least two people he listed in the letter that they had been contacted by the forces of order.

Thiele was unaware at the time he reported to the police that some of the people McLeod’s main character killed in the books were real people.

Thiele was initially a fan of McLeod and his book and started interacting with him in 2019. It wasn’t until he attended a fan-only chat room with McLeod that he became alarmed. McLeod recommended books that were essentially neo-Nazi pamphlets, Thiele said, and made some ominous remarks about wanting to start a war.

“It was only after I got to know him better and the reality of his life and the reality of his points of view, that I realized that it was not a novel but a manifesto or letter of commitment, ”Thiele said Monday.

Thiele said he wasn’t sure if his alarm was more than a hunch, but wanted trained law enforcement professionals to look at McLeod and do their own risk assessment.

“Unfortunately, they didn’t see what I saw,” he said. “I saw through the jokes and saw the guy below. I’m sad that I couldn’t prove it.