On Friday, July 29, 2022, Chicago Police arrested Janya Williams, 18, and charged her with terrorism and issuing false threats. Williams, a security guard at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, is said to have transmitted an anonymous message to her Andy Frain Services supervisor using the TextNow app, which said, “Mass shooting at 4 pm location Lollapalooza. We have 150 targets.” She allegedly told her supervisor that her sister also saw a comparable threat made on Facebook.
According to WDBD, prosecutors say Williams had allegedly admitted to manufacturing the threat “because she wanted to leave work early.”
After seeing the TextNow message, Williams’ supervisor called Chicago Police. The FBI was subsequently notified.
Williams was instructed by her supervisor to screenshot the threat and is said to have then created a Facebook account for “Ben Scott.” Under this alias, she posted another version of her original threat: “Massive shooting at Lollapalooza Grant Park 6:00 p.m.” Williams screenshotted the resulting post and provided it to her supervisor.
CBS Chicago reported that FBI Joint Task Force members subsequently conducted an emergency disclosure request and determined the source of the message. Williams’ IP address allegedly indicated she was the culprit.
In Illinois, falsely making a terrorist threat is a Class 1 felony.
Williams, who was has been arrested twice since May, is being held on $50,000 bail, per Cook County Judge Mary Marubio’s orders.