A man from Washington state has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., over her support of the health care overhaul.
Documents filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington charge Charles Alan Wilson with one count of “threatening a federal official.”
He was arrested Tuesday morning.
For the past several months, an unidentified man had been leaving “harassing” and “vulgar” voicemails with Murray’s office, but those voicemails became increasingly threatening after Congress approved the health care bill in March.
“The caller began to make overt threats to kill and/or injure Senator Murray,” according to court documents.
Between March 22 and April 4, Wilson allegedly left at least 15 threatening and profanity-laden voicemails with Murray’s office.
“It only takes one piece of lead,” he allegedly said in one voicemail on March 22. “Kill the f***ing senator! I’ll donate the lead. … Now that you’ve passed your health-care bill, let the violence begin. … We, the people, will not subside, succumb to socialism. … You have awakened a sleeping giant.”
Wilson also allegedly referenced comments by Attorney General Eric Holder last year.
“We are not a country of cowards, as one of the high ranking people of this administration says,” Wilson allegedly said.
The next day, employing a common refrain from opposition to the health care reform bill, Wilson allegedly suggested that in addition to “killing the bill” people should “Kill the f***ing Senator!”
“Kill the bill, kill the Senator too,” he allegedly said. “I do believe that every one of you mother-f***ing socialist democratic progressive mother-f**kers need to be taken out.”
Federal authorities were able to identify Wilson by reviewing phone records, according to court documents. He later told an undercover FBI agent that he possessed and regularly carried a gun, according to court documents.
“I do pack, and I will not blink when I’m confronted,” he allegedly said in a recorded conversation with the FBI agent. “It’s not a threat, it’s a guarantee.”