Engineer Charged With Sending Threats by Mail

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

SACRAMENTO — 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 appeared yesterday for a Republican campaign event. Michael Lee Braun, 51, was arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on two federal charges of sending threats by mail.

The charges relate to two letters prosecutors said Mr. 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 Mr. Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Rep. John Doolittle, a Republican of Rocklin, according to a statement from the FBI.

Mr. Bush was scheduled to appear at the country club yesterday afternoon in a campaign event for Mr. Doolittle, who represents a heavily Republican district near Sacramento. A federal affidavit filed with the case further alleges that Mr. Braun sent 51 such letters, including the two most recent ones, since the 2001 terrorist attacks. The letters threatened the lives of the president, Mr. Cheney, first lady Laura Bush, and Defense Secretary 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,” an affidavit by Special Agent Timothy Lester said.

The white substance usually turned out to be baking soda, the affidavit said.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use