North Dakota man charged with threatening Democratic senator

Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a North Dakota man with making threats against the state's Democratic senator, Heidi Heitkamp.

Fifty-five-year-old Kevin Lee Olson, of Fargo, made his initial appearance in court Tuesday on a charge of having made a threatening communication. He told the judge he doesn't want an attorney and a detention hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

Authorities allege that Olson sent an email to the senator's office last month threatening to shoot her in the head. Although court documents didn't specify which senator had been threatened, Heitkamp's office confirmed it was she.

Heitkamp told KFGO-AM (http://bit.ly/2iaH03U ) that her office notified the authorities, who decided it was serious enough to warrant intervention.

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An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that the Fargo police chief said threats were made against a U.S. senator from North Dakota, not both of them.

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Information from: KFGO-AM, http://www.kfgo.com