FBI Probes Threat Against Judge in Detroit

Federal authorities Saturday said they were investigating a threat made against a federal judge, but said there was no indication the case was related to recent bombings that killed an Alabama federal judge and a Savannah, Ga., city councilman.

An FBI spokesman declined to discuss the nature of the threat against U.S. District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, who has been presiding over a case involving a key figure in a Detroit police corruption scandal.

The spokesman, who declined to give his name, would say only that the threat was received by the Detroit Police Department.

Asked whether the threat was related to recent bombings in the South, the FBI spokesman said: “There is no indication that they are connected.”

A Maryland circuit court judge was injured Dec. 22 in the explosion of a bomb mailed to his home. A U.S. appeals court judge was killed Dec. 16 in a bomb explosion at his suburban Birmingham, Ala., home. Two days later, a Savannah city councilman and lawyer active in civil rights was killed by a bomb blast at his office.