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Barrington Hills man accused of threats to cops in YouTube videos is found unfit to stand trial

Joel A. Koskinen

A man accused of threatening to kill Barrington Hills police officers in a video he posted on YouTube has been found unfit to stand trial and is in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services, court records indicate.

In July, Joel A. Koskinen, 35, was charged with threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony, and electronic harassment involving an obscene message or threat to kill, according to a criminal complaint filed in McHenry County court.

In August, Koskinen was evaluated by a mental health professional who found he was not fit to stand trial or enter into a negotiated plea. He was taken into the custody of the Department of Human Services with the expectation that within one year he will be deemed fit to stand trial, court records show.

When Koskinen is restored to fitness, the criminal case against him will proceed, officials said.

Koskinen is accused of posting a video “containing a threat to shoot [an officer] in the head, and the threat was made because of the hostility of the defendant toward” the officer, according to the complaint.

According to the criminal complaint, in the video, Koskinen also said: “I will now kill every cop in Barrington Hills Police Department.”

In handwritten letters he has submitted to the court while in custody of the county jail, Koskinen said he’s not guilty of any crimes and that his free speech rights have been violated.

“Please understand the difference between felony and misdemeanor and see why a person cannot be guilty of two felonies over a YouTube video,” Koskinen wrote, according to court records. “This has never happened in the history of the world. You won’t have one court trial that you can reference. Because it’s not a possible move dude.”

He also wrote that his YouTube channel is an “art piece. My words are part of a protest and act of self-defense.”

In detaining Koskinen at his first court appearance, Judge Cynthia Lamb said Koskinen has made other threats online. The judge wrote that in other videos Koskinen posted on YouTube and other platforms, he threatened “to rape and kill police officers, specifically threatening to cut off the legs of the officers [and] threatened to rape and kill Allstate employees. Defendant also threatened that Arizona State University employees all get shot in the head.”

In one letter, Koskinen wrote that Barrington Hills police will be “punished” for not respecting free speech rights, invading his privacy and “not understanding what is humor, comedy or joke,” according to court records.

Koskinen, who is being represented by an attorney from the public defender’s office, is due back in court Dec. 3.

Amanda Marrazzo

Amanda Marrazzo is a staff reporter for Shaw Media who has written stories on just about every topic in the Northwest Suburbs including McHenry County for nearly 20 years.