A threat that arrived Thursday stating an explosive device was in the mailbox at the home of Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, was “unfounded,” police said.
The Biddeford Police Department received the emailed threat and notified Maine Capitol Police on Thursday afternoon, Maine Capitol Police Lt. Steven Trahan said in an email sent to state officials and obtained Friday by the Bangor Daily News.
The threat proved to be unfounded following an investigation from Biddeford police, the FBI and the Maine State Police’s bomb unit and came a day after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a university in Utah.
The killing of Kirk, 31, was the latest case of political violence in the U.S., with former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband also assassinated at their home in June. Maine took down the addresses of lawmakers from the Legislature’s website following the Minnesota killings, though addresses are listed elsewhere on the state’s website.
Trahan said in his email that police believe the threat related to Fecteau’s home “is not an isolated event and spans wider than just our state.”
In a Friday statement, Fecteau confirmed law enforcement received a threat of an explosive device at his home and thanked police along with the FBI, who “swiftly investigated” and found there was no danger to his family, neighbors or his Biddeford community.
“The division in our nation is worsening, with a growing tendency to equate party affiliation or policy positions with inherent evil. Political differences are escalating to violence, taking lives in Minnesota and Utah, and instilling fear across the country,” Fecteau said.
Fecteau condemned political violence, calling it “an affront to democracy itself, shaking the belief that we all have the freedom to exchange ideas and debate without fearing for our safety.”
“We must not — and I certainly do not — accept this division in America as normal or acceptable,” Fecteau said. “It is neither.”
