SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man who threatening to kidnap and kill the mayor of Wichita because he was upset about the city’s mask ordinance has been sentenced.
On Monday, Judge Seth Rundle sentenced 62-year-old Meredith Dowty to two years on probation, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office
On Friday Dowty plead no contest to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
According to court records, the retired firefighter was upset about the city’s mask ordinance and had been texting an acquaintance on the city council for more than a month before his arrest.
James Clendenin, at the time a member of the city council, started receiving texts from Dowty and wanted to know where the mayor eats, sleeps and buys food and gas.
Clendenin, who in 2020 voted against the mask mandate, said Dowty might have felt they were “kindred spirits” because of his stance.
Court documents say Dowty also texted about people needing to be “hung by their necks” and then described the mayor as “traitorous” in another message. Clendenin said he didn’t feel the conversation went beyond “venting” until Dowty allegedly wrote that the “Mayor and all those who bankrupt us” are “viable targets for elimination.”
That’s when he reported the messages to police. Dowty said Clendenin is his friend and that he didn’t mean the texts as threats, court document say. -The Associated Press contributed to this report.