Iowa City man faces charge over false threat at Johnson County Courthouse

A man who told authorities there was something “destructive” on the front steps of the Johnson County Courthouse — which prompted the bomb squad to respond and find only religious materials — was arrested Friday after he was captured on video placing the items there, court records show.

Kenneth Michael Davis, 43, of Iowa City, faces a simple misdemeanor charge of making a false report to a public entity.

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Shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday, police received an anonymous call saying there were destructive items outside the courthouse, 417 S. Clinton St. in Iowa City, and that officers needed to retrieve them.

The area just outside the courthouse was closed to traffic for a few hours as the Johnson County Metro Bomb Team responded to remove the items. But the four items found there turned out to be “religious reading materials that posed no threat to the public,” according to court records, which did not describe them further.

“The defendant is observed on video placing the items on the courthouse steps earlier in the day and later calling in the threat from an Iowa City gas station,” according to a criminal complaint.

Court records do not say how the man seen on the video was identified as Davis. He was ordered held on a $500 bail, but Johnson County Jail records show he was also being held on a detainer request by the Carver County, Minn., Sheriff’s Office, although the records do not show the nature of that case.