Blogger arrested for alleged judge threats

CHICAGO, June 24 (UPI) -- An occasional Internet talk show host and blogger was arrested Wednesday on charges of threatening federal judges in Chicago, U.S. officials said.

Hal Turner, 47, a conservative-leaning blogger, was arrested by FBI agents at his home in Bergen, N.J.

Officials said a federal complaint filed in Chicago accused Turner of Internet postings threatening to assault and murder three U.S. appeals court judges in Chicago in retaliation for upholding handgun bans in Chicago and a suburb.

U.S. officials said Internet postings June 2-3 expressed outrage over the decision by a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. One posting said, among other things, "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed," U.S. officials said. The postings also included photographs, phone numbers, work address and room numbers of the judges, and a map and a photo of the building in which they work.

Bergen is scheduled to have an initial court appearance Thursday in Newark, N.J., before a federal magistrate.