State of Wisconsin ____ Racine County State of Wiseonsin, plaintit, Byron L Cowan DOB: 05/24/1973 CRIMINAL COMPLAINT Cireuit Court File No: 2016C 001092 M_B Black Brown Weight: 165 tbs Height: 5 #7 in defendant, DACese Ne: 20]6RAO06149 Stats Prisoner on July 11, 2016 at 1:30 PM Prosecutor: W Richard Chiapete Agency: Racine Police Department 16-036408 Officer: Joshua D Baclewski # 2192, ofthe Racine Police Department Defendant's ATN: 5200300075023, ‘The defendant did: Count 1: SOLICITATION OF THREAT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, HATE CRIME, The above-named defendant on or about Friday, July 08, 2016, in the City of Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin, advised another to intentionally threaten to cause bodily harm to , a , without their consent, and at the time of the threat , the defendant knew or should have known that was a law enforcement officer and the threat was in a response to any action taken by a law enforcement officer in an official capacity, contrary to sec. 940.203(2), 939.50(3)(h), 939.30, 939.645(1) and (2c) Wis. Stats., a Class H Felony, and upon conviction may be fined not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000), or imprisoned not more than six (6) years, or both. ‘And further, invoking the provisions of sec. 939,645(I) and (2)(c) Wis. Stats., because the defendant committed a crime under chapters 939 to 948, and intentionally selected the person against whom the crime was committed in whole or in part because of the defendant's belief or perception regarding the color of that person , the maximum penalty for the underlying crime may be increased by not more than $5,000, and the maximum term of imprisonment may be increased by not more than five (5) years Count 2: TERRORIST THREATS, HATE CRIME The above-named defendant on ot about Friday, July 08, 2016, in the City of Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin, as an actor who intended to , did threaten to cause the death of or bodily harm to any person or to damage any person's property, contrary to sec. 947.019(1), 939.50(3)(i), 939.645(1) and (2)(c} Wis. Stats., a Class I Felony, and upon conviction may be fined not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000), or imprisoned not more than three (3) years and six (6) months, or both. ‘And further, invoking the provisions of sec. 939.645(1) and (2)(¢) Wis. Stats., because the defendant committed a crime under chapters 939 to 948, and intentionally selected the person against whom the crime was committed in whole or in part because of the defendant's belief or perception regarding the color of that person , the maximum penalty for the underlying crime may be increased by not more than $5,000, and the maximum term. of imprisonment may be increased by not more than five (5) years, Count 3: DISORDERLY CONDUCT The above-named defendant on or about Friday, July 08, 2016, in the City of Racine, Racine County, Wisconsin, while in a public or private place, did engage in otherwise disorderly conduct, under circumstances in which such conduct tended to cause a disturbance, contrary to sec. 947.01(1), 939.51(3)(b) Wis. Stats., a Class B Misdemeanor, and upon conviction may be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000), or imprisoned not ‘more than ninety (90) days, or both. The official records and files of the Racine County District Attorney's Office, the Wisconsin Department of Justice and/or Department of Transportation reflect that the defendant has the following record of convictions: on/1i2016STATE OF WISCONSIN - VS - Byron L Cowan 01/03/2003 Bail Jumping Racine Co. 02CM2579 10/20/1999 2. Counts Bail Jumping Rptr Kenosha Co 98CM1553, ‘The complainant, being first duly swom on oath, on information and belief, alleges and states that in the County of Racine, State of Wisconsin, the defendant did commit the above described offense(s) and prays that said defendant be dealt with according to the laws of the State of Wisconsin ‘The complainant states that he or she is an adult citizen and has reviewed the official law enforcement reports prepared under the above mentioned complaint numbers by the above stated officer(s), whose reports your ‘complainant relies upon as truthful and accurate inasmuch as they were prepared during the course of an official Jaw enforcement investigation. The complainant relies upon the statements of the mentioned witnesses inasmuch as they are citizens and their statements are based on personal knowledge or eyewitness observations; the complainant relies upon the statements of the defendant, if any, inasmuch as they are contrary to the defendant's ‘penal interests and are, therefore, to be believed. ‘The complainant thereby informs the court that the basis for the above charge(s) is as follows: Investigator Stillman of the City of Racine Police Department reports that while monitoring social media, I observed an account under the name of BYRON COWAN who stated on 07/07/2016, at 8:19 am., “Be first to shoot first. I encourage every Black man in America to strap up it is clear. [ encourage every white Officer to kiss their love ones good-bye. Every time you leave the house tell them you love them; because you may not make it home. Also if you do not make it home, you may find their dead bodies sprawled all over the house. This is a war. We are tired. { don’t care who I offend. I don’t have any more words but bullets. It's time to start going into their homes and killing their families. Not fucking playing or smiling,” After that particular post there are comments, and at 8:21 am., 3 minutes after the post, BYRON COWAN responds and states, “If you don’t know how to properly use a gun I will teach you, Strap the fuck up, shoot first.” Later on at 9:56 a.m., BYRON COWAN states, “Change only through war and destruction, You kill our children, we retum the favor, shoot first.” ‘After reading the disturbing comments made by COWAN, I began to try to attempt if COWAN was still a Racine resident, end through Phoenix, I was able to verify that COWAN indeed was a resident at 1236 Grove Avenue in the City and County of Racine. A plan was formulated involving myself and other Officers from the Gang ‘Task Force to locate COWAN and take him into custody based on the statements that he made being the threats to Law Enforcement. At approximately 1330 hours, myself, INV NEAL LOFY, and Officer (OFC) JOHN STUDEBAKER of the Mount Pleasant Police Department, were operating a UC vehicle. At this time, we observed COWAN driving his Nissan Altima north in the west alley of the 1300 block of Grove Avenue, We observed COWAN pull into his garage off the alley and exit his vehicle. Upon exiting his vehicle, myself, INV LOFY, and OFC STUDEBAKER approached COWAN on foot and directed him fo the ground at gunpoint. I announced in a loud voice, “Police, don’t move,” to which COWAN complied. I advised COWAN to get on the ground, and he did. COWAN was taken into custody and placed into handcuffs by INV LOFY using emergency handcuffing techniques. COWAN was taken into custody without further incident, and transported to the Racine Police Department. COWAN was read his Miranda rights and agreed to speak to officers. He did admit to making the posts and indicated that he has over 5,000 friends on Facebook. Subscribed and sworn to before me and approved for filing on the 11th day of July, 2016. COMPLAINANT. ae ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY 1, Richard Chinpts,Disict Atlorey, Sse Bar No, 1017926, 730 Wisconsin Ave, Racine, W1SS403 (262) 636172 o7/ii2016 2