Man threatened to blow up high court building

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was targeted.

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio man has been indicted on charges that he threatened to blow up the U.S. Supreme Court building and attack an associate justice on the court, according to an indictment filed Wednesday.

David Tuason, 46, of Pepper Pike, targeted black men known to affiliate with white women, well-known white women who had relationships with black men, and children of mixed-race parents, federal authorities said.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg confirmed that Justice Clarence Thomas was threatened in the case but declined to comment further.

According to the indictment, Tuason sent a letter to the Supreme Court building in July 2003 addressed to an associate justice of the court referred to as “CT.”

In the letter, which contained several racially charged remarks, he threatened to blow up the building, and claimed “CT” would be “castrated, shot or set on fire ... I want him killed,” the indictment says.

Thomas is the only black justice sitting on the court.

FBI spokesman Scott Wilson declined to name those targeted, citing privacy issues.

He said the threats began in Cleveland and branched out across the nation. He would not specify whether Tuason attempted to carry out attacks, but said he acted alone.

“As far as we know, it’s a one-man operation,” Wilson said.

The indictment says letters were also sent to several Ohio sites, including the Kent State University women’s basketball team, several Ohio high schools and the Severance Hall home of the Cleveland Orchestra. The earliest letter was sent to a high school track team in Mentor in May 2003, according to the document. The most recent threat, to a high school football team in Strongsville, was mailed March 3, the indictment shows.

Investigators said Tuason also sent threatening e-mails to office personnel at Jordache Enterprises.

The threats he’s accused of are mostly alike, promising physical violence against black males associated with white women.

“Any blackie with a white girl is disgusting ... Blacks should be shipped back to Africa,” Tuason wrote, according to the indictment.

Wilson said Tuason sent threatening communications as far back as 20 years ago. Wilson said threats were sent to places where the targets worked or may have attended functions.

“It’s been a very long, enduring case,” Wilson said. “Basically, it’s a case we never gave up on.”