Police Arrest Man Responsible for Threats Against Trinity High School
St. Matthew Police arrested a 29-year-old man accused of making threats against Jeff Brohm's old high school Wednesday night, theLouisville Courier-Journalreported Thursday afternoon.
According to St. Matthews assistant police chief Tony Cobaugh, Thor Wiljanen was taken to Louisville Metro Corrections around 2:45 p.m. on Thursday and charged with second-degree terroristic threatening. Wiljanen confessed to being the owner of a Twitter account named "Proud Clarion," which published threats using words such as "gas cans" and "matches" following Brohm's decision to turn down a head coaching offer at Louisville and remain at Purdue.
The tweets containing the threats were posted before noon on Wednesday and read, "If Jeff Brohm doesn't come, we burn down Trinity." Another tweet said, "If you see a man running down frankfort with a gas can and wild look in his eye, its me." The account associated with the tweets went private shortly afterwards.
Wiljanen's attorney, Ted Shouse, told the Courier-Journal that the tweets were "in no way a threat."
"It was an attempt at humor, and the community and the school were never in any danger," Shouse said. "It was never a threat. It's always been a humorous account."
School officials cancelled Thursday classes Wednesday night after police alerted them of the alleged threats. St. Matthews Police and Louisville Metro Police began the investigation, and after getting involved on Thursday, FBI officials said charges of second degree terroristic threatening were possible.
Brohm graduated from Trinity, where he also played quarterback and graduated in 1989. His brothers and father also attended Trinity. The 47-year-old Louisville-native was the frontrunner for the Cardinals' job before turning down the offer.
Purdue has gone 13–12 with Brohm at the helm and has made back-to-back bowl appearances after winning just nine combined games between 2013 and 2016.
The Boilermakers went 6–6 this season and earned three wins over ranked teams, including a 29-point victory over No. 2 Ohio State back in October.
