Former L.A. Pol Who Admitted to Calling in a Bomb Threat to City Hall Will Collect Pension
The disgraced former Deputy Mayor of Public Safety for Los Angeles, who agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of making a bomb threat against City Hall and lying to LAPD officials and his boss Karen Bass about the call, will collect a publicly-funded pension despite the serious charge and the city's $1 billion shortfall. Bass's office confirmed to Los Angeles that Brian Williams, 61, was allowed to quietly retire from his position on April 19 - nearly five months after the FBI raided his Pasadena home in December, leading to him being removed from the critical public safety role just weeks before a series of deadly wildfires ripped through Los Angeles County, killing nearly a dozen Angelenos in the blaze that tore through the Pacific Palisades. The Mayor's office declined to provide details on Williams' pension, which he will be eligible to collect even as he faces ten years in prison on the federal explosive charge. He is expected to face a federal judge "in the coming weeks," in DTLA, according to the United States Attorney for California's Central District. "Brian Williams worked for the city for many years, including under both Mayor Bass and former Mayor Hahn. For specifics on his pension, we'd suggest reaching out to LACERS," Bass's office said in a statement to Los Angeles, referencing the L.A. City Employees' Retirement System, who did not immediately return a request for comment.
On October 3, as the first anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israelis was approaching, and rallies protesting Israeli's retaliatory strikes on Gaza were disrupting Los Angeles, Williams, prosecutors say, decided to take action. While he was in a virtual meeting with "multiple people in connection with his official duties," prosecutors say, Williams used the Google Voice application on his personal cellphone to place a call to his city-issued cellphone. Williams then left the virtual meeting and placed a call to the Chief of Staff of the Los Angeles Police Department to "falsely state" he had just received a call from a non-existent attacker who threatened to bomb City Hall, according to prosecutors. About 10 minutes later, Williams sent a text message to Mayor Karen Bass and several high-ranking city officials in the Mayor's office, writing: 'Bomb threat: I received phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning. The male caller stated that 'he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.' I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat.'
While the LAPD bomb squad executed a search, Williams showed other officers the record of an incoming call "that appeared as a blocked number on his city-issued cell phone," and said that was the unknown male caller who had conveyed the threat. It didn't take long for investigators to learn the call was coming from inside the house. After meeting with the LAPD, Williams again texted Bass and her high-level staff, according to his plea agreement, writing: "At this time, there is no need for us to evacuate the building, I'm meeting with the threat management officers within the next 10 minutes. In light of the Jewish holidays, we are taking this thread, a little more seriously. I will keep you posted.'A lawyer for Williams has not returned a call for comment. Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of L.A.'s FBI field office said in a statement that Williams had 'not only betrayed the residents of Los Angeles, but responding officers, and the integrity of the office itself.'
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