Machete-wielding man foiled by judicial worker who jammed foot in revolving door at courthouse: prosecutors

A judicial worker stuck a foot in a revolving door at the entrance to the Dirksen Federal Courthouse to keep a man wielding a machete from getting inside, prosecutors say.

Leonard Delaney, 38, is charged with assaulting a federal judicial employee. A hearing to decide if he should be kept in custody until trial is scheduled Friday. He’s being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

According to a complaint, two “federal judicial employees” and a civilian were chatting after lunch outside the courthouse on May 3. When one of the employees entered a revolving door, Delaney pulled out a machete more than 14 inches long. Once inside the building, the unidentified employee jammed a foot in the door to keep Delaney from getting in.

As the employee notified security, Delaney allegedly raised the knife to shoulder level for a few seconds, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Court

Security officials ordered him to drop the machete and he did, the complaint said.

Delaney was breathing heavily and “seemed aggressive,” according to a deputy marshal’s interview with the employees. According to court records, Delaney suffers from mental illness.

Days before the incident, Delaney got an unfavorable ruling in a rambling federal lawsuit he filed against his apartment complex, records show.

Under a May 15 court order, Delaney can’t enter the federal courthouses in Chicago or Rockford unless there’s court approval and he’s accompanied by a deputy U.S marshal.