Man accused of threatening to kill Barrington Hills police on YouTube taken into custody

A man accused of creating YouTube videos threatening to kill Barrington Hills police, naming one in particular, was detained pretrial Thursday.

Joel A. Koskinen, 35, of Barrington Hills, is charged with threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony, and electronic harassment involving an obscene message or threat to kill, according to the criminal complaint filed in McHenry County court.

Koskinen is accused of posting a video “containing a threat to shoot [the officer] in the head, and the threat was made because of the hostility of the defendant toward” the officer, according to the complaint.

In the video, Koskinen also said, “I will now kill every cop in Barrington Hills Police Department,” according to the complaint.

Judge Cynthia Lamb said Thursday during Koskinen’s first-appearance hearing that, in other videos posted on YouTube and other platforms, Koskinen threatened “to rape and kill police officers, specifically threatening to cut off the legs of the officers [and] threatened to rape and kill Allstate employees. Defendant also threatened that Arizona State University employees all get shot in the head.”

Lamb detained Koskinen pretrial, despite his minimal criminal history. Lamb also ordered that Koskinen undergo a psychological evaluation while in custody. Koskinen, who did not have an attorney listed, is due back in court July 24.