Prosecutors: McHenry Man Threatened To Kill U.S. Diplomats
Prosecutors: McHenry Man Threatened To Kill U.S. Diplomats
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Federal prosecutors say a McHenry man was so angry about his wife's failure to get a visa, that he threatened the lives of American diplomats, reports WBBM's Regine Schlesinger.
The U.S. Attorneys' Office says 48-year-old Russell Gordon was arrested at his rural home Saturday night by special agents of the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security Service and the FBI.
Prosecutors say last February he began sending threatening text messages to the U.S. Consulate in Belgrade over a visa dispute involving his Serbian-born wife. They say there were more messages in recent weeks.
Last Friday, his wife went to the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade. She told Embassy officials her husband had become enraged that she would be given only a two-week guest visa and allegedly developed detailed plans to shoot Serbians in Chicago and as well as the U.S. Ambassador and his family.
In an email, Gordon allegedly warned: "I will play God with Serbian families…as a silver medalist in 200 yard open sights rifle, there isn't a damned thing the US or Serbian authorities can do to prevent it."
"Any time you have threats like that, prosecutors are going to take a serious look at it. Is there a heightened look because of Benghazi? Obviously," CBS2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller says.
Late Monday at his home in Northbrook, Gordon's father would say only that he is "shocked" by the charges against his son.
If convicted, Gordon faces up to five years in prison.
