Thursday, April 10, 2008

Feds: Ohio Man Threatens Black Celebrities

Hat tip: LetsTalkSeriously regarding the man who wrote hateful letters to Black celebrities in IRs:

Feds: Man threatens black celebrities
By MEGHAN BARR, Associated Press Writer Thu Apr 10, 2:16 AM ET


COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio man has been indicted on charges that he threatened to blow up the U.S. Supreme Court and attack black men, including a justice on the court, according to an indictment filed Wednesday.

David Tuason, 46, targeted black men known to affiliate with white women, well-known white women who had relationships with black men, and children of mixed-race parents, federal authorities said.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg confirmed that a threat was made against Clarence Thomas but refused further comment. Thomas is the only black justice on the court.


FBI spokesman Scott Wilson declined to name those targeted, citing privacy issues. He would not specify whether Tuason attempted to carry out attacks. The threats began in Cleveland and branched out across the nation, Wilson said.
Wilson said Tuason sent the communications as far back as 20 years and that the threats were sent to places where the targets worked or may have attended functions.


"It's been a very long, enduring case," Wilson said. "Basically it's a case we never gave up on."


An message seeking comment was left after-hours Wednesday at the Cleveland office of Federal Public Defender Dennis Terez, who authorities say is representing Tuason.


According to the indictment, Tuason sent a letter to the Supreme Court building in July 2003 in which he threatened to blow it up. The letter was addressed to an associate justice of the court referred to as "CT."


Tuason claimed "CT" would be "castrated, shot or set on fire...I want him killed."
The letter contained several racially charged remarks.


The indictment says letters were also sent to several Ohio sites, including the Kent State University women's basketball team, several Ohio high schools and the Severance Hall home of the Cleveland Orchestra.


The earliest letter was sent to a high school track team in Mentor in May 2003, according to the document. The most recent threat, to a high school football team in Strongsville, was mailed March 3, according to the indictment.
Investigators said Tuason also sent threatening e-mails to office personnel at Jordache Enterprises.


The threats he's accused of are mostly alike, promising physical violence against black men associated with white women.
Tuason, of Pepper Pike, Ohio, was indicted on two counts of transmitting threatening interstate communications and six counts of mailing threatening communications.


The indictment was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland.


Tuason is in the custody of U.S. Marshals. Each interstate communication charge carries a penalty of up to 10 year in prison and each mail charge carries a penalty of up to five years.


"As far as we know, it's a one-man operation," Wilson said.

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