Gillum faces no charges elsewhere, attorney says
A former law enforcement officer accused of planning to kill Black people in a mass shooting at a New Orleans festival was released from custody over the summer after a grand jury found there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime, court records show. Christopher Gillum’s release had not previously been reported.
A Louisiana grand jury in June declined to indict Gillum on a state terrorism charge that could have carried up to a 15-year sentence, court records show. Gillum, who had been held without bond, was released shortly after the grand jury’s decision.
Gillum is not facing charges in any other jurisdictions, according to his attorney, Dylan Utley. Utley declined to comment further.
Gillum, 45, is a former police officer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was arrested in Florida in April with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a handgun while on his way to Louisiana to commit a mass shooting, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation involved the FBI and authorities across Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida.