(Image Credit: IMAGN) Pride flags wave in front of the Alabama Statehouse during the March on the State House for LGBTQ+ Rights, held in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday February 5, 2025.
San Diego, California – George Joseph Wellinger II, a San Diego resident, pleaded guilty Tuesday to sending a threatening email to a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The threats followed a high-profile hate-crime murder in Lake Arrowhead.
The victim had appeared in a television news report discussing the 2023 murder of a business owner who was fatally shot for displaying a Pride flag. Approximately two weeks after the murder, Wellinger sent an email to the victim containing violent threats.
According to a grand jury indictment, Wellinger referred to the victim as “another alphabet clown that wants to take a dirt nap, too.” He further wrote, “We know what you look like and know where are you are … only a matter of time …” The email also included a link to a news article about the Lake Arrowhead murder.
Wellinger was charged with sending the threatening message. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
