Another Elected Official Threat as Colorado Senator Gets Warning

A Colorado man is accused of threatening to set fire around the office of a U.S. Senator from Colorado and shoot members of his staff, prompting authorities to step up patrols around the Senator home and office. The man faces a charge of assault on a federal employee. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is due in federal court January 17. An FBI agent said in an arrest affidavit that the man called the Democratic Senator office January 6 to complain about his Social Security benefits. At one point, according to the document, the man one of the Senator staffers that he is schizophrenic and needs help and that he may go to terrorism. A spokesman from the U.S. attorney office said there were no indications the incident was related to the January 8 shooting of several people including a U.S. Representative in Arizona. The man was well known to staffers in the Senator office because he had called several times before to complain about his Social Security benefits, the affidavit said. But during one call January 6, a spokesman quotes the man as telling a staffer: I am just going to come down there and shoot you all. The man called again and spoke to another staffer, this time saying: To get your attention, I will go down there and set fire to the perimeter.