Omaha man being investigated by FBI for email suggesting putting ‘bullets in …

OMAHA, Neb. — The FBI is investigating an Omaha man accused of threatening Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bob Kerrey in an email to a political action committee.

But Laurence McCabe, 68, told Omaha television station KETV (http://bit.ly/QK9WW8) that he never planned to harm anyone.

McCabe said his frustration with a television ad attacking Republican U.S. Senate candidate Deb Fischer led him to send the Aug. 7 email to End The Gridlock political action committee, which ran the ad.

The email asked if McCabe had the group’s permission to “put bullets in Democrat heads” to end congressional gridlock.

“Them dead Scum would help stop global warming and get them scum to end the grid lock,” the email said. “Let me know if you have a preference which scum should be first. I might suggest Bob Kerry.”

Several days later, McCabe was questioned by FBI agents who showed up at his house. According to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI, McCabe initially denied sending the email, then acknowledged he had when agents told him they had traced the dummy email account to his computer.

The criminal complaint says McCabe told investigators that sometimes a person has to “scare the hell out of them,” referring to Democrats, but McCabe insisted the email should not have been seen as threatening.

“This is not serious in my book, because the only thing I’ve killed is a fly,” McCabe told the television station.

The criminal complaint says McCabe owns two rifles and two handguns.

McCabe was arrested by Omaha police three days after being questioned and was taken to federal court for an initial appearance on a complaint of using interstate communication to threaten another person.

McCabe has been released on bond and is being represented by a federal public defender. He said he plans to fight the case. If convicted, he could face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

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Information from: KETV-TV, http://www.ketv.com

(Story distributed by The Associated Press)

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