http://www.wishtv.com/dpps/news/stra...me-jgr_3285638
Arrested man had 1,600 knives in home
Cache of weapons was discovered over the weekend
Updated: Tuesday, 23 Mar 2010, 9:24 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 23 Mar 2010, 7:31 AM EDT
- DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - Investigators searching the home of a man arrested last week after allegedly trying to bring four knives into a downtown Chicago court building found 1,600 more knives and other weapons as well as a list of court workers -- some with bull's eyes next to their names, authorities said Monday.
At a news conference, Sheriff Tom Dart and federal officials stood in front of a large table with dozens of different kinds of knives, some with blades 12 inches long, others made of hard plastic that could slip through a metal detector. There were also brass knuckles, retractable police batons and five handguns.
"What you have in front of you here today is pretty frightening," said Dart, who said federal and county authorities have been monitoring Kevin Long for more than two years as a "potential threat to the judiciary and individuals in the courthouse."
The cache was discovered over the weekend, days after Long -- a convicted felon paroled from prison in November -- was arrested after he tried to enter the downtown Chicago court building with four hunting knives in a briefcase.
Long, 48, was initially charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. Dart's office later added another 47 counts of the same charge because the items included 11 switchblades, 25 expandable police batons, 10 brass knuckles -- all illegal in Illinois -- and a working handgun, which a felon is prohibited from possessing. Dart said more charges might be added.
Long is being held in county jail. He is being represented by the county's public defender's office, which didn't immediately return a call for comment.
Authorities said it remains unclear what, if anything, Long was planning. They say don't know why he listed the names of sheriff's deputies and Chicago police officers or why he was in the building, saying he had no known pending cases.
Nor do they know how Long got his hands on $45,000 worth of knives -- all of which appeared brand new, with many still in boxes -- or what he intended to do with them.
"We don't know if he was doing some kind of surveillance on our security, to see if he could get the knives in, see how far he could push it," said John O'Malley, a chief deputy U.S. marshal in Chicago.
In fact, Long has been a frequent visitor to both federal and county court facilities and was once arrested on a criminal trespassing charge after he was found in a judge's chambers, Dart said. Federal authorities said he was found so many times in areas of the downtown federal building where he wasn't allowed that he was banned.
Long's most recent felony conviction was for intimidation of a witness in a civil case in which he was involved.
Long's arrest may be at least in part tied to the city's most famous attack on the federal judiciary in recent memory: the 2005 slaying of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's mother and husband by a man angry at the judge for dismissing his lawsuit.
After the slayings, the U.S. Marshal's Service and the sheriff's department shared intelligence involving possible threats to court facilities. A database was created that includes the names of 20 to 25 people, including Long's, who are monitored whenever they enter a court building.
Dart stressed that even if Long's name hadn't been on the list, he would have been stopped because the knives set off the metal detector.
But O'Malley said if Long hadn't been identified as a possible threat, the deputies might have held the knives for him, allowed him to enter the court and then returned them when he came back.
"It never would have been revealed what's in front of us today," he said near the table of weapons.
Particularly disturbing, Dart said, is that investigators found knives made of hard plastic at Long's home.
"They can be snuck into a building and are something that can harm or kill somebody," he said.
Willful Media Ignorance
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