(The Root) — In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the Department of Justice announced that 45-year-old Paul Kevin Curtis, of Corinth, Miss., has been arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with making threats against President Obama and other suspicious communications.
In an affidavit in support of the complaint charging Curtis, an FBI agent submits that there is probable cause to believe that Curtis sent letters to President Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Mississippi Justice Court Judge Sadie Holland that contained the following message and a substance that, in the letters to Obama and Wicker, preliminarily tested positive for the poison ricin:
No one wanted to listen to me before.
There are still 'Missing Pieces.'
Maybe I have your attention now
Even if that means someone must die.
This must stop.
To see a wrong and not expose it,
Is to become a silent partner to its continuance
I am KC and I approve this message
According to the affidavit, the language in the letter was linked to a comment Curtis posted under a photo on his Facebook page.
Curtis is expected to appear in the U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss., later on Thursday and could face maximum penalties of 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, along with three years of supervised release.
DISCUSSION