Arkansas man accused of threatening to hang 7 mayors over Common Core curriculum back in jail
A federal judge has ordered a man from Arkansas to be taken back into custody over threats to seven mayors in January 2015.
According to Arkansas Online, Maverick Dean Bryan, a 55-year-old man from Mineral Springs, had admitted during a detention hearing to having written threatening letters to the mayors of Ashdown, Hope, De Queen, Lewisville, Murfreesboro, Nashville, and Prescott, saying that he would hang them from "mighty oaks" on courthouse lawns if his demand was not met. He demanded that religion be put back in local schools and have the Common Core curriculum removed.
He also reportedly told the mayors not to honor the votes of those who worship a god apart from Jesus, as well as those of atheists, communists, socialists, homosexuals, and Muslims.
Bryan also admitted to having been the one behind two advertisements on local listing Thrifty Nickel last year. He was looking for someone who would give him a loan of $23 million so he can put up a Christian army that would overthrow the government of the United States.
He was arrested, but after a detention hearing on March 28, U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven allowed Bryan to be released on an unsecured bond. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Harris, who objected to the judge's decision, asked U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey to look into the case. Hickey, upon reviewing the transcript of the defendant's detention hearing, decided that Bryan should have been kept in custody.
"Defendant has an extensive criminal history involving the possession of firearms. In addition to his three previous convictions involving firearms, Defendant has admitted that he was impermissibly in possession of a firearm on the day of his arrest," says the order handed down by Hickey on May 2. "Thus, Defendant has repeatedly demonstrated his unwillingness to abide by the laws concerning the possession of firearms by a convicted felon. This pattern of disobedience poses a threat to the safety of the community and gives the court little hope that Defendant would abide by any conditions set by this court."
Harris' motion for pretrial detention was granted, and Bryan was taken back to jail. Hickey will be presiding over Bryan's jury trial this month. If the jury finds him guilty, he could face up to five years imprisonment for each count of sending threatening mail to the mayors, plus up to $250,000 in fines.
Arkansas adopted the Common Core State Standards in 2010, and phased it in 2011 for Kinder to Grade 2, in 2012 for Grades 3 to 8, and in 2013 for Grades 9 to 12.