As national protests against police brutality took place after Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, Pilon is said to have tried to stop people from supporting Black Lives Matter during a series of incidents in nearly five weeks.
CNN approached Pylon and a lawyer who represented him for comment. He has not yet been charged and is not currently in police custody, Special Agent Mara R. Schneider of the FBI’s Detroit Office told CNN.
It is alleged that on June 14, 2020, Pilon called nine different Starbucks stores in Saginaw, Bay City, Birch Run, Flint, Ann Arbor, Allen Park and Oak Park. He told the officers answering the phone to tell the employees wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts that “the only good n *** er is a dead n *** er,” court documents said.
During one of these calls, Pilon told an employee, “I will go out and lynch me,” the court document said.
A few days before the incident, Starbucks reversed its position, banning employees from wearing accessories such as T-shirts or pins in support of the Black Life Matters movement and announcing it was giving 250,000 T-shirts to employees.
Pilon “made these statements in order to make a threat and with the awareness that the communications will be considered a threat,” the authorities said in an oath statement.
According to an affidavit, later that week, Pilon went to the Goodwill store and left a noose with a note that read: “An accessory to wear with your BLM T-shirt.” Congratulations! ”
Authorities said at least four other snares and notes were found in a number of locations, including a Walmart parking lot, inside a beverage cooler at a 7-Eleven store, a Kroger parking lot and inside a private vehicle.
In the United States, the executioner’s snare symbolizes the brutality and history of lynching and hatred of black people. In recent years, snares have been found hanging in front of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. in Oakland, California.
The threat “brought hatred” to our home, the family says
Donald Simon found one of the snares on the morning of July 12, 2020, when he got into his truck in front of his home in Saginaw. He planned to drive to a nearby gas station and get coffee there, but he never did.
When he opened the truck door, Simon’s ex-wife Regina told CNN that he noticed the noose and note in the vehicle and returned to their home.
“It fell to our knees, I think we just shivered and went on autopilot,” said Regina Simon, adding that her husband ended up feeling so angry.
“Our truck is about, even 10 feet from my front door. It worried me – you came to my property and brought hatred to a house you don’t hate,” she said.
Regina Simon, who is Mexican and white, and her ex-husband, Black, said they thought they were targeted because the family was playing in the front yard with their dog the day before the incident. Regina Simon was wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt, they said.
In the following days, Regina Simon said she posted a photo of the loop on Facebook, spoke to the NAACP, decorated her front yard with Black Lives Matter signs and balloons, and staged a protest because the family wanted to show they weren’t scared or scared.
“We went through our neighborhood to let people know that our neighborhood won’t stay for that,” she said.
Regina Simon said the family did not know Pylon and never had contact with him. They hope that if Pilon is found guilty, a judge will order Pilon to conduct mental health therapy.
“Anyone who lives a life full of hatred like this must be an unhappy life,” she said, referring to Pylon.
CNN’s Amy Simmonson contributed to this report.
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