Posted on 10/02/2006 6:45:15 PM PDT by SmithL
An engineer at a nuclear power plant near Sacramento has been charged with sending threatening letters containing a powdery substance to the same Sierra foothills country club where President Bush will appear Tuesday for a Republican campaign event.
Michael Lee Braun, 51, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on two federal charges of sending threats through the mail. The FBI said he also is a suspect in mailing dozens of similar threats since shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The charges relate to two letters prosecutors said Braun mailed on Thursday to the Serrano Country Club and Serrano Visitors Center in El Dorado Hills, a tony community in the foothills east of Sacramento. The letters contained threats to President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, according to a statement from the FBI.
Bush is scheduled to appear at the country club Tuesday afternoon in a campaign event for Doolittle, who represents a heavily Republican district near Sacramento.
A federal affidavit filed with the case further alleges that Braun had sent 51 such letters, including the two most recent ones, since 2001. The letters threatened the lives of the president, Cheney, First Lady Laura Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
"Each of the letters contained a written threat, usually death by some kind of WMD agent (anthrax, toxic chemical poison, radioactive dust or improvised explosives) and some unknown, white, powdery substance, or items simulating a possible letter/package improvised explosive device," according to the affidavit by Special Agent Timothy Lester.
The white substance usually turned out to be baking soda, the affidavit said.
The two charges against Braun carry maximum penalties of five years in prison and $250,000 fines, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Mueller told Braun he could face additional charges once prosecutors review...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Even "smart" people can make stupid decisions, and act on them!
At first I thought, "Arnold, NOW what are you up to?"
Thanks goodness they didn't throw the package into baking soda! Just think of the destruction!
If it were up to me I would send this guy to Iraq to drive lead vehicle in a Humvee. He sounds like a good IED test driver to me.
DUmp or Kos Kid? /s
Odds on he's a moveon.org contrib.
Dims need to get a different hobby.
I wonder what his home PC brought up.
The FBI's affidavit states that Braun has a master's degree in radiological physics and a law degree. He has worked as a nuclear engineer at Rancho Seco since 1984 while practicing law part-time.
Should be a rousing next 5 years for this poor slob.
Of all the stupid ways to get in a world of hurt.Oh well,if Hillary gets elected President then he can receive his pardon in late January 2009.
If he loses his job and the security clearance that probably goes with it, it's going to be a lot longer than 5 years!
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The thought of having to deal with the hell of being in and out of court for years, dealing with lawyers, the media, the humungous expense and the humiliation of your family would be enough to make me leap from a tall building.
Idjit DNC Kool Aid drinker.
This is serious. As an engineer he has the knowledge and access to sabotage the nuclear plant, with the predictable results.
There's one I haven't heard in a while.
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