Wisconsin man faces hate crime charge over threats on suburban LGBTQ group’s Facebook page

A Wisconsin man faces a hate crime charge after authorities said he posted a threatening comment on a Lake County LGBTQ+ organization’s Facebook page.

William Ramlow, 38, has been extradited to Illinois and appeared in Lake County court Thursday, authorities said.

According to the Lake County state’s attorney’s office, Round Lake Beach police were notified June 3 of a threatening comment left on a Facebook post published by the LGBTQ+ Center of Lake County. The post promoted the Lake County Pride Fest scheduled for June 14, at the Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center, officials said.

The comment, left by a user with the screen name “William Ramlow,” included hateful, derogatory language and slurs, and advocated for violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community, county prosecutors say.

Round Lake Beach police tracked the user’s IP address to an address in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, authorities said. On June 4, officers from the Elkhorn Police Department and Round Lake Beach made contact with Ramlow, officials said.

Ramlow was charged with one felony count of hate crime and taken into custody June 13 by the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors said. He later waived extradition to Illinois.

The Lake County state’s attorney’s office filed a detention asking that Ramlow be detained while the case is pending. A hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Lake County courthouse.