Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is among state leaders across the country receiving threatening letters from an extremist group.
Megan Castle, Ritter’s spokeswoman, said Friday that the letter received by Ritter has been turned over to the local FBI office.
As of Wednesday, more than 30 governors had received letters saying if they don’t leave office within three days they will be removed, according to an internal intelligence note by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Jim Davis, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver office, said they are not investigating the threatening letter sent to Ritter.
Davis said authorities view it as an exercise of the writer’s protected First Amendment rights to free speech.
Dave Joly, a spokesman for the FBI in Colorado, said earlier Friday that local agents believe the letter was related to the nationwide threats.
Steve Olson, assistant special agent in charge for the national security branch of the FBI, said the group has been around for decades, and the FBI is aware of its actions.
“As long as that is where this group stays, we have no interest in this,” Olson said.
