REDDING, CA—A judge on Thursday sentenced a Northern California man to two years of probation for threatening to shoot down helicopters helping fight the Delta Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest last year, according to federal prosecutors.
Jason A. Tobey, 46, of Dunsmuir, was also ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota to pay a $500 fine.
According to evidence presented at a one-day bench trial in May, Tobey confronted a U.S. Forest Service employee several times about the helicopters, which were using the Mott Airport in Dunsmuir as a base of operation. Tobey lives next door to the airport.
The aircraft were performing tasks such as infrared mapping to assist firefighters on the ground, prosecutors said.
Tobey reportedly told the employee he was going to “shoot those (expletive) out of the sky if I have to” and “did I not (expletive) make myself clear yesterday, or am I out of my (expletive) mind?”
The pilots altered their preferred flight paths as a result of the threats, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Cota rejected Tobey’s argument that his threats were protected by the First Amendment and found him guilty of threatening, intimidating and interfering with a forest officer.
The Delta Fire broke out on Sept. 5, 2018, and consumed more than 63,000 acres before crews finally contained it on Oct. 7. The fire injured two people and destroyed 20 buildings.
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