Man pleads not guilty to threatening federal prosecutor

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A 36-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges he threatened to kill a federal prosecutor and burn down a South Dakota courthouse during a courtroom outburst.

Steven Shane McCann entered his plea Tuesday in federal court in Rapid City. McCann faces one count of threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer and two counts of contempt.

The Rapid City Journal reports McCann was arrested in July in Colorado. He is accused of threatening to kill Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Kelderman in December when McCann was sentenced for violating a condition of his supervised release.

McCann also is accused of yelling in front of a federal judge and saying, “When I get out, I’m going to burn this place to the ground” as he was escorted from the courtroom.