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Journal Gazette and Times-Courier - August 8, 2005
Toledo man arrested for anti-Muslim
bomb threats he allegedly e-mailed
By NATHANIEL WEST
TOLEDO -- Federal authorities arrested a Cumberland County man for allegedly threatening to bomb American mosques and the national headquarters of an Islamic civil liberties group.
Max L. Oakley, 50, of Toledo was taken into custody by FBI agents after an investigation revealed he allegedly sent threatening e-mails to the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Attorney's office there.
Oakley later admitted he was responsible for the e-mails, said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein.
"As today's arrest demonstrates, law enforcement shows no tolerance for those who use e-mail to spread hateful anti-Islamic rhetoric and threaten violence against innocent persons and organizations," Wainstein said in a release Friday.
According to the federal complaint against Oakley, CAIR received several e-mails on July 29 from an individual claiming the group's headquarters and all Muslim mosques would be attacked unless CAIR announced on national television it would shut down its operation. The e-mails indicated a deadline of 9 p.m. that night.
The U.S. Attorney's office reported that the Washington police department bomb squad searched the CAIR building, but found no explosives.
FBI agents then determined Oakley was the alleged perpetrator of the e-mails, according to the federal prosecutor. Oakley was interviewed by the FBI prior to the 9 p.m. deadline on July 29, when he admitted sending the messages, Wainstein said.
Oakley has been charged with "willfully making a threat and maliciously conveying false information ... by sending e-mails concerning an alleged attempt to be made to destroy a building by means of an explosive," according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
If convicted, Oakley could receive a 10-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine. He is expected to appear before a magistrate at the federal courthouse in either Benton or East St. Louis……
http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2005/08/08/news/news01.txt
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