FBI, US Capitol Police arrest Kenai, Alaska’s Arther Graham; Did he plan to kidnap Lisa Murkowski?

Arther Charles Graham, 46, of Kenai, Alaska, United States was apparently upset over an impending eviction when he sent a web form submission to an incumbent U.S. senator on September 28, 2023. He signed with his own name, phone number and return email address.

Graham mentioned the senator’s name, which authorities did not reveal. He wrote that he “ain’t got nowhere else to live”.

“The bank is taking my parents’ house,” Graham continued. “When I inherit my mom’s municipal bonds, I’m going to use ilthem as kindling to start my homeless-person campfire, when I inevitably become a homeless person like I was when I was a little boy. Also, I’m gonna cut off your skin and wear it as clothes.”

“Oops I said that already,” Graham added. “Someone call the police. Deiter is dreaming about his mother again.”

On October 2, 2023, congressional staff members working in the senator’s office in Washington, D.C., USA notified the threat assessment section of the U.S. Capitol Police that they received a threatening web form submission. On October 13, 2023, it was confirmed that Graham was the source of the threats.

On October 10, 2023, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Robert Douglas and Thomas Soeller interviewed Graham at his residence in Kenai. Graham admitted that he had sent the emails to the senator.

On October 30, 2023, Graham was arrested by special agents from the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI. On November 3, 2023, he will make an initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge.

Graham was charged with using interstate communications with a threat to kidnap and injure. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. 

It was terrorism researcher Seamus Hughes who first flagged the filing, which indicated that the senator is female. Lisa Murkowski, 66, is Alaska’s only female senator. 

Born in Ketchikan, Alaska, Murkowski served as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from the 14th district from January 19, 1999 to December 19, 2002. He assumed office as a U.S. senator from Alaska on December 20, 2002.