26 July 2023 , 18:59
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University of Kansas offensive lineman Joseph Krause has been charged with aggravated criminal threat following an alleged 'bomb threat' against the Kansas Jayhawks football facilities.
Krause virtually attended Douglas County Court, via Zoom, on Tuesday afternoon and appeared in front of a judge a day after being arrested. The University of Kansas Police Department apprehended him hours after evacuating the school's David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Anderson Family Football Complex and Beatty Family Pavilion.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office states the arrest was for communicating “a threat to commit violence”. Krause is accused of unlawfully, feloniously, and with the intent to place another in fear, or to cause the evacuation, lock down or disruption in regular, ongoing activities of any building, communicate a threat to commit violence.
The severity level 5 person felony Krause is charged with is punishable with a minimum two-and-a-half year prison sentence and/or a $300,000 (£232,000) fine, plus 24 months of supervision after being released. The maximum penalty would be an 11-year and four-month imprisonment.
He does not yet have a lawyer, the judge was told, but plans to have one in place by the end of this week. In court, bond was set at $10,000 (£7,700) by the judge despite requests from the state for it to stand at $30,000 (£23,200).
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A no-contact order with non-enforcement witnesses was also requested. The case's next date in court is Wednesday, 2 August, at 9am.
KU Athletics has addressed the situation. However, their spokesperson did not name Krause nor confirm the correlation between the arrest and the threat.
The Kansas Jayhawks stadium was evacuated on Monday“We are aware of a situation involving one of our student-athletes. We take the safety of our staff, student-athletes and coaches very seriously,” the school said in a statement. “We are gathering more information and will have no further comment at this time.”
Officers checked the football facilities following the evacuation "out of an abundance of caution" and confirmed that "no devices were found". They later issued an all-clear on Monday evening.
The offensive lineman, whose plan is to major in mechanical engineering, is a redshirt sophomore who has not played for the team over the last two seasons. His only snaps came in 2020 when making brief appearances during losses to the Iowa State Cyclones and the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs.
A Kansas native, Krause went to Shawnee Mission East High School, where he was a two-time Sunflower League Champion and three-time district champion before graduating in 2020. Individually, he won All-League, All-State and All-District honors while being an eight-time letterwinner and on their National Honor Society.
His father, Michael, was a college football player at the University of Nebraska - Kearney during five years there in the 1980s. Krause's mother is Stephanie, and he is the brother of two siblings, Sydney and Chloe.