Artist who distributed transphobic notes about shooting children acquitted on terroristic threat charges

Mark Sabbatini
Sep 19
3 min read

Jury finds Mitchell Watley not guilty in 2023 incident involving distribution of notes after a school shooting in Tennessee

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

This story has been updated with statements in an email from Mitchell Watley’s attorney.

A children’s book illustrator who got nationwide attention after being arrested for posting transphobic notes in public locations in Juneau referring to shooting children was acquitted on Wednesday by a jury on four charges of making terroristic threats.

Mitchell Watley, 49, testified he didn’t think people would perceive the notes as a threat, according to KTOO, which first reported the verdict. He also stated he doesn’t think much about transgender people now.

The trial that started Friday lasted four days. The jury reached its verdict Wednesday afternoon after about five hours of deliberations, according to Nicholas Polasky, Watley’s attorney, in an email sent Friday to the Juneau Independent.

"A key issue was whether the speech was something referred to as a ‘true threat,’ wrote Polasky, noting he and Watley co-wrote the email. "Broadly speaking – a true threat is something that objectively appears to be a threat and was meant to be a threat. It is not required a person must intend to act on the threat, but the person must mean for the message to be a threat. Speech is protected by the First Amendment, but a true threat is not."

The email states that while many people — including jurors — may have found Watley’s notes offensive and personally troubling, "those issues are different from whether there was a crime."

"For Mr. Watley’s part, he recognizes his conduct, although not a crime, had an impact on the community," the email states. "Mr. Watley would like to extend an apology to parents, kids, people who work with kids, schools, members of the trans community, and to others who were impacted."

Officials at the Alaska Department of Law, which prosecuted the case, did not respond as of midday Friday to inquiries sent during the morning by the Juneau Independent about the verdict.

Watley distributed the notes following a March 27, 2023, shooting at a Nashville, Tennessee, school by former student Aiden Hale, a transgender woman. The shooting resulted in anti-transgender rhetoric and related reactions nationwide.

“Officers spoke to Mitchell, who said (in essence) that he was in fear of the recent transgender school shooter and took it upon himself to print out and distribute these leaflets,” the court criminal complaint states.

The notes by Watley featured an image of an assault rifle against the background of a transgender flag with the words "Feeling Cute Might Shoot Some Children,” according to police and court records. They were left at locations including the State Office Building, Foodland IGA and Costco on Friday, March 31, 2023, which was the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Security was increased at Juneau’s schools after police were told about the notes, according to court records.

Police identified and arrested Watley using video footage recorded at Costco and registration information from the Division of Motor Vehicles. At trial he faced four charges of second-degree terroristic threats, a class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Watley’s arrest attracted national media coverage due to his illustrating books for children ages 1 to 5, including “I Would Tuck You In” and “You Are Home With Me.” An article by the Associated Press notes the books "feature mother animals snuggling their young and trying to make them feel safe with loving, affirmative statements like ‘wherever you may be, you will always have a home with me.’"

Juneau bookstores pulled the titles with his name following his arrest.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.