Kenneth Pilon, a 61-year-old Michigan eye doctor, has pleaded guilty to willfully intimidating and attempting to intimidate citizens from engaging in lawful speech and protests in support of Black Lives Matter.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement, “The defendant levied racially-motivated death threats against multiple Black people wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts. The defendant also used a noose, a vile symbol of hatred and violence that harkens back to the Jim Crow era, to convey a threat of racial violence. Racially-driven threats of violence simply have no place in our society today, and the Department of Justice will continue to prosecute any individual who engages in this type of threatening conduct.”

U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan also added, “The actions of this defendant were threatening to an entire community. We hope this conviction sends the message that this type of activity is criminal, and that we will take the necessary action to protect the people of our district.”

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Pilon’s alleged threats began on June 14, 2020, when he was accused of calling nine Starbucks stores across Michigan. According to the complaint, in just over an hour, he allegedly directed nine staffers who picked up the phones to "tell all the Starbucks workers wearing BLM shirts that the only good n****r is a dead n****r."

Pilon also allegedly told one of the employees that he was “gonna go out and lynch me a n****r.”

On June 22, Pilon allegedly placed a noose in the parking lot of a Goodwill store in Saginaw, Michigan. A note attached to it allegedly said, "An accessory to be worn with your 'BLM' t-shirt. Happy Protesting!" He continued to leave nooses with similar notes at a 7-Eleven, a Walmart and a Kroger store over the following month, according to the complaint.

Kenneth Pilon will face sentencing on March 23, 2023.