Nanuet Man Accused Of Making Death Threats Against Cuomo, Bloomberg, Pelosi
NEW CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Nanuet man is accused of making death threats on Facebook against the governor of New York, the mayor of New York City and several members of Congress, Clarkstown Police said.
Two rifles, bayonets, ammunition, a sword, knife and body armor were recovered at Lawrence Mulqueen's home, police said.
Mulqueen, 49, was arraigned Thursday on charges of making terroristic threats, illegally possessing weapons and harassment.
Police were called Wednesday afternoon by Mulqueen's landlady, who said he'd been harassing her. She tipped them to Mulqueen's alleged threats, made on a Facebook page under a pseudonym, police said.
"Sort of the rantings of a disturbed, angry mind," Fran Pillersdorf told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis. "I was aware and scared."
Suburban Man Accused Of Threatening Officials
On the page, Mulqueen wrote he wanted to kill Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Charles Schumer, Rep. Nita Lowey, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Harry Reid and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, according to police.
Mulqueen called followers of President Barack Obama "traitor scum" and declared "death to them all," CBS 2's Dennis reported.
Clarkstown Police Sgt. Glenn Cummings said his department had no choice but to arrest Mulqueen, citing his Facebook threats, the cache of weapons found in his room, and the need to protect the public.
"We didn't want a situation where something did happen and we looked back and it was said 'well, that law enforcement agency had information and warnings, why did they do nothing about it?'" Sgt. Cummings told CBS 2's Dennis.
"I think what may have particularly have gotten his ire in the past month or two were the various legislation enacted with respect to the rights to possess a firearm. I think that was particularly upsetting to him," Sgt. Cummings told 1010 WINS. "One posting which was posted about a month ago said that if anybody ever came to take the arms, they would suffer the consequences."
Pillersdorf said she never actually saw a gun, and didn't know if her tenant would have acted out his online threats. In the end, she called Mulqueen "ineffectual, sort of the legend in his own mind. This was all the Internet, you know."
The FBI helped with the investigation, police said.
Mulqueen was to be held until a court date Monday.
Please offer your thoughts in the comments section below ...
(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
