A Kenai man is facing federal charges after authorities said he sent a message to a United States senator threatening to kidnap and harm her.
Arther Charles Graham, 46, was arrested Monday, according to an affidavit in support of a federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. He remained in custody Wednesday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
While the lawmaker he is accused of threatening is not named, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is the only woman holding that position in Alaska. A spokesman from Murkowski’s office said Wednesday that he could not confirm whether she had received the threat.
According to the sworn affidavit written by a special agent with the U.S. Capitol Police, congressional staff members working in the senator’s Washington, D.C., office reported receiving a threatening message online on Oct. 2.
The message had been sent on Sept. 28 from Graham, who provided a Kenai address and an Alaska phone number, the affidavit said. Graham’s first name appears as Arthur in the message, as well as in various other public records.
In the message, Graham said he is facing financial hardship and will soon be homeless, according to the affidavit. He then threatened to harm the senator, and said he would “hunt you down, cut the flesh off your body and wear your skin like clothes,” it said.
Two FBI agents interviewed Graham at his home in Kenai and he admitted to sending the email to the senator, according to the affidavit.
Graham was scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court on a charge of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap and injure.
This isn’t the first time Graham is accused of sending threatening messages. A New York-based journalist said in an interview Wednesday that he reported Graham to the Kenai Police Department after receiving several profane, threatening messages in 2019 and 2020. Court records show no charges were filed related to the threats.
Frank Parlato, known for his coverage of the sex cult NXIVM, published several online posts that included messages he said were sent by Graham. In the posts, Parlato said Graham made baseless accusations about Alaskans he thought were involved in the cult, and then targeted the journalist when he failed to follow up on those accusations.
A Kenai police spokesman would not answer questions about any previous contact with Graham, citing the ongoing FBI investigation.
Graham’s arrest comes amid a rise of violent threats against public officials in recent years.
A Delta Junction man was sentenced last year to spend more than two years in federal prison after he threatened Murkowski and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.