Columbus Man Accused of Threatening High Court

Columbus-A Pepper Pike man was indicted Wednesday on charges that he threatened to blow up the U.S. Supreme Court building and attack an associate justice.

David Tuason, 46, 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, the only black justice, was threatened in the case but she 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.

According to the indictment, one of the letters referred to an "LN" and mentions the Cleveland Cavaliers and was sent last year to Revere High School in Richfield, where the daughter of former Cavaliers star, Larry Nance, is a student and accomplished athlete.

Also targeted was a well-known black singer who performed at Cleveland's Severance Hall, home of the city's orchestra, about the time a February letter was sent, U.S. Attorney William J. Edwards said.

The letter sent Feb. 4 addressed an "AJ," according to the indictment, and Grammy-award winning jazz and R&B artist Al Jarreau was on the schedule on Feb. 8.

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.