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  Arrest Made in Threat against Sen. Mcdonald, Rep. Lawlor

By Christopher Keating
Hartford Courant
March 18, 2009

http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2009/03/sen-andrew-mcdonald.html

A New Britain man has been arrested and charged in connection with an e-mailed threat against two Democratic legislators over a controversial bill on the Roman Catholic Church.

Timothy Kane, 26, was charged with second-degree harassment in connection with the e-mail that was sent at 9:12 p.m. on March 10, Capitol police said. The charge is a Class C misdemeanor.

On the following day, the police were told that an e-mail containing "an alarming statement'' had been received by state Sen. Andrew McDonald and state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor - the co-chairmen of the legislature's judiciary committee. The police began an immediate investigation, identified the sender, and submitted an affidavit for an arrest warrant to prosecutors in Hartford, according to a statement released by Richard Segreto, a veteran officer and spokesman for the Capitol police.

"The statement in the email made reference to the residences of the two legislators insinuating retaliation for their position on Senate Bill 1098 pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church, along with other derogatory statements,'' Segreto said.

Kane was arrested without incident Wednesday by the Capitol police under a warrant that had been signed by a Superior Court judge. He posted a $500 cash bond and was released pending arraignment in Hartford Superior Court on March 27.

Issues surrounding the Catholic Church and gay marriage have been heated in recent years, and have sometimes led to threats. A person was arrested several years ago for making threats against Dr. Marie Hilliard, the longtime chief lobbyist for the Catholic Church at the state Capitol. The threat and the arrest received little attention at the time because Hilliard refused to talk publicly about the incident. As such, there was little publicity because most veteran insiders at the Capitol were unaware of the threat at the time.

 
 

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