An Annotated Guide to the Talking Points of a Death Threat Nut

A 64-year-old Washington man was arrested and charged with threatening the life of Senator Patty Murray, after leaving dozens of voicemails about her support of the health care bill. We have highlighted the sources of some of his complaints.

Charles Alan Wilson called Murray's office daily. At first, he was merely vulgar and rude. After the health care bill passed, though, Wilson's language became more and more violent and threatening.

Here are some selections from his voicemails, with links to provide context and some of the sources of his more colorful talking points. (The full criminal complaint, with many more voicemails, is available here [pdf].) Lots of his rhetoric and certain very specific phrases came directly from Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin! That's funny, isn't it?

"I hope you realize, there's a target on your back now."
"You have awakened a sleeping giant."
"We are not a country of cowards, as one of the high ranking people of this administration says."
"As you grow older, you are going to have a target on your back forever, for voting in socialism into this country with your health-care bill and your cap 'n tax."
"I'm not a tea party bagger. I'm an independent U.S. voter."
"Not only do I say, 'Kill the bill!' I say: Kill the fucking Senator! Hang the fucking bitch! Hang that mother-fucking bitch from a fucking gallows! Kill the bill, kill the Senator too."
"I do believe that everyone one of you mother-fucking socialist democratic progressive mother-fuckers needs to be taken out. Put in front of a fucking firing squad and shot between the fucking eyes. Assassinated, you fucking low-life. There is a growing hatred, my dear, for you progressive socialist democrats. Socialism will not work. There is a growing hatred."
"You're dead fucking meat! Baby killer, Murray."
"You have awakened a sleeping giant and we are coming after you. Yes, we the people. As you trash our Constitution, you tried to lead us into a socialistic nation, we're gonna fuck you up."

"...I hope we shove this-health care bill so far down your throat. You shoved it down our throat, we're gonna shove it up your ass. Yes, we're gonna shove it right up your ass. We're gonna take your ass out of office. That was, you cannot harm us anymore. Maybe I will not have to go to the end-of-life classes you that you have planned for me. Maybe you should go to the end-of-life classes that you have planned for us."

"Yes, Patty, I hope you choke on your health-care bill. We're choking on it. Yes, me are a senior citizen on social security and medicare. I want to thank you so much, very very much, for signing my death warrant.... I, I just love this new health-care bill. I'm glad I finally got to state that I need to go pass away when I have out-lived my usefulness to you."

"Senator ... Fuck you. You are fired. You are 86'ed. Fuck you, you Pike Street fucking whore. You fucking slut. Come over the Yakima and list—Come on down to Grandview and get some more spit dick there, you old fucking cunt."

"Oh, you were in Yakima last week. How come you didn't give a big speech to the people outside waiting to see you? Yeah, we were outside waiting for you, hopefully you would come out and explain to us how come this health-care bill that you railed on so highly is going to create the biggest drain in American history. It's going to cause so much pain and suffering. I would like to thank you so much, for robbing from me and putting on my children's plate the most ridiculous, underhanded, back-door lying, cheating, unconstitutional. You are fantastic. I want to thank you for the pain and suffering I am having. Fuck you, you fucking slut, you fucking cunt. I wish you the fucking pain I am going through. I wish it upon you. I hope you had the worst fucking Easter of your entire fucking life. We are coming after you, bitch, taking you out of fucking office. We are going to remove you from doing any more damage to the people that you are supposed to represent, not rule. Fuck you cunt, you fucking Pike Street fucking slut."

Guess what: Wilson had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and told the FBI that he always traveled with his trusty .38 revolver!

More details from the affidavit:

Special Agent Cory Cote placed an undercover phone call to [redacted]. During the call, S/A Cote disguised himself as a representative of "Patients United Now," a group that ostensibly attempting to have the federal health-care reform legislation repealed. The call last approximately fourteen minutes, and it was consensually recorded by S/A Cote.
(a) WILSON repeatedly express his strong dislike for the recent health-care reform legislation (i.e., "I hate it. I hate it!"); (b) WILSON confirmed that he regularly placed calls to Senator Murray's and Senator Maria Cantwell's offices (i.e., "I call Murray every day. I call Cantwell. They don't like hearing from me ... I call them everyday."); (c) WILSON referred to Senators Murray and Cantwell as the "Pike Street whores," as does the caller in the voicemail messaged; (d) WILSON also referred to Senator Murray as "sneaker shoes Murray," a phrase that was also stated on some of the voicemail messages; and (e) WILSON made the following remarks, which are similar to the rhetoric in many of the voicemail messages: "They need to be strung up, and I mean put [in] the gallows. I will take no prisoners ... And I don't care what they think. They want to come throw me in jail, they can go ahead and do that. That's fine."

During the conversation with S/A Cote, WILSON also discussed the fact that he possessed, and regularly carried, a firearm. Specifically, WILSON stated:

I do pack, and I will not blink [] when I'm confronted, and that is a guarantee. It's not a threat. It's a guarantee ... And I work in a neighborhood where I have to pack ... But I pack a .38 and I — If somebody says, I will not blink. ... Cops only minutes away, but then seconds count. That's how come I pack a firearm.

My investigation has confirmed that WILSON has been issued a valid concealed weapons permit, and that he has a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver registered to him.

And, just for fun, here is my favorite excerpt from a voicemail from Mr. Wilson:

"I want to thank you so much for ruining my life and yes, for killing babies. Voting on a bill that kills babies, you ought to be very, very proud of yourself. That's what you should run on from this Fall as you run around town in your sneaker shoes. Yes, uh, it's not that I hate you. I've never met you. But your policies and your ideals suck. Yes. In your dying days, I hope it turns around and bites you in the fucking ass so fucking hard, you fucking cunt."