Oregon Public Broadcasting


A man from Eastern Washington was arrested by federal authorities Monday. He’s accused of threatening to assault and murder Washington Senator Patty Murray.

Prosecutors claim Charles Alan Wilson left several explicitly threatening messages on voicemail at Murray’s Seattle office. The messages referred repeatedly to Murray’s stance on health care.  

Wilson lives in the town of Selah. Attempts by the Associated Press to contact him were unsuccessful. 

The past year has kept Congressional operators busy, with calls coming in on health care and other issues.  But the threatening calls Senator Murray received did not spill over to Oregon’s delegation. 




Many Congressional staffers say they don’t really want to talk about what they find on their voice mail each morning. At least, not on the record. 



Suffice to say, phone traffic for Oregon and Southwest Washington’s Congressional delegation has been very heavy since the federal debate over health care began last spring.

And staffers say almost every representative’s office has fielded an extra torrent of calls from people outside their districts. Generally speaking, if any of those calls raise concerns, staffers refer them to the Capitol Police. 
 


Prosecutors say the threats against Senator Murray were not run-of-the-mill. Staff in Murray’s Seattle office noticed a barrage of anonymous, threatening messages left over a period of several months.

They believed one caller was responsible for the series. In fact, prosecutors say they got familiar with his voice. 

The messages reached a crescendo around the time the new health care law passed. 

The U.S. Attorney’s criminal complaint cites one message dated March 22nd which said, "There's a target on your back now… It only takes one piece of lead.... Now that you've passed your health-care bill, let the violence begin."
 


Speaking off the record, Congressional staffers we spoke to say calls made to local offices tend to be milder than what the DC offices receive.

At least three staffers said none of the calls they logged were as threatening as the messages left for Senator Murray.
 


FBI spokeswoman Beth Ann Steele said she believed no one had been charged in Oregon over the past year for any such threats – although she added, calls of this kind may have been reported to several different authorities. 
 


Generally speaking, most representatives’ offices report they experienced very high call volumes on health care earlier this spring.

But those calls have tapering off in the past few weeks, coming into line with calls about other issues, like the economy.
 


Read the Complaint Against Charles Alan Wilson