Machete-wielding man foiled; employee jammed foot in revolving door at courthouse, feds say

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A judicial worker stuck a foot in a revolving door at the entrance to the Dirksen Federal Courthouse to keep a man wielding a machete from getting inside, prosecutors say.

Leonard Delaney, 38, is charged with assaulting a federal judicial employee. A hearing to decide if he should be kept in custody until trial is scheduled Friday. He’s being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

According to a complaint, two “federal judicial employees” and a civilian were chatting after lunch outside the courthouse on May 3. When one of the employees entered a revolving door, Delaney pulled out a machete more than 14 inches long. Once inside the building, the unidentified employee jammed a foot in the door to keep Delaney from getting in.

As the employee notified security, Delaney allegedly raised the knife to shoulder level for a few seconds, prosecutors said.

The machete recovered from Leonard Delaney, according to court records.

The machete recovered from Leonard Delaney, according to court records.

Security officials ordered him to drop the machete and he did, the complaint said.

Delaney was breathing heavily and “seemed aggressive,” according to a deputy marshal’s interview with the employees. According to court records, Delaney suffers from mental illness.

Days before the incident, Delaney got an unfavorable ruling in a rambling federal lawsuit he filed against his apartment complex, records show.

Under a May 15 court order, Delaney can’t enter the federal courthouses in Chicago or Rockford unless there’s court approval and he’s accompanied by a deputy U.S marshal.



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