Robert Bates trial on threats, harassment moved to Dec. 20

CEDAR RAPIDS - The harassment trial of a former City Council candidate accused of threatening to blow up the Linn County Courthouse was rescheduled Thursday to Dec. 20.

Robert Bates, 43, is charged in Linn County District Court with two felony counts of threats and one count of first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor.

The carnival business owner is accused of calling a St. Luke's mental health care employee in 2009 and claiming he was going to Missouri to buy explosives to “blow up the courthouse,” according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint said he

also called a foundation employee and claimed in the call that he was going to “kill hundreds of people and blow up the courthouse.”

A pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 9.