Colorado judge charged with menacing is accused of using an AR-15-style rifle to threaten another person

Fifth Judicial District Chief Judge Mark Thompson (Colorado Judicial Branch)

Colorado District Court Judge Mark Thompson is accused of utilizing an AR-15-style firearm to endanger different idiosyncratic connected July 25, tribunal documents made nationalist Wednesday revealed.

Thompson, who astatine the clip served arsenic the main justice for the Fifth Judicial District, was charged with felony menacing connected Saturday, astir 3 months aft the incident. The Fifth Judicial District covers Summit, Clear Creek, Eagle and Lake counties.

The sanction of the unfortunate was redacted from a ailment filed against the judge, and the papers did not see immoderate details astir however oregon wherever successful Summit County the incidental unfolded. July 25 was a Sunday.

Menacing with a existent oregon simulated limb is simply a Class 5 felony, and is typically punished with 1 to 3 years successful prison, followed by parole, according to the state’s sentencing guidelines.

People perpetrate felony menacing if they purposely marque idiosyncratic fearfulness being earnestly injured and if, portion doing so, they either usage a deadly limb oregon thing that looks similar a weapon, oregon archer the unfortunate they are equipped with a deadly weapon, according to authorities law.

Thompson was removed from his enactment presumption arsenic main justice erstwhile the complaint was filed, and has been connected planned paid clip off. When helium returns to work, he’ll resume his duties arsenic a judge, but not arsenic main judge, according to the Colorado Judicial Branch.

The Fifth Judicial District Attorney’s bureau requested that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation instrumentality connected the probe connected July 25. Because of the evident conflicts of interest, First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King’s office, which covers Jefferson and Gilpin counties, volition grip the lawsuit arsenic peculiar prosecutors. CBI provided a study connected its probe to King’s bureau connected Sept. 2, spokeswoman Susan Medina said.

Court records successful the lawsuit were initially kept concealed astatine the petition of Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum, who said successful a filing that secrecy was indispensable successful portion due to the fact that Thompson was a “prominent subordinate of the Summit County assemblage and a nationalist official” and due to the fact that publically revealing details of the lawsuit “could jeopardize the ongoing probe and/or interfere with the rights of the defendant, including irreversible harm to reputation.”

A justice reversed that determination Wednesday and ordered the documents beryllium redacted, past made public.

Thompson’s lawyer did not instantly instrumentality requests for comment.