This is sad. Empathize with the man because I have a close relative who is all but squeezed out of construction due to illegals.
This man must have reached a breaking point out of frustration because his so-called 'elected representatives' aren't listening.
If our politicians were squeezed out of their jobs something would be done. ~~

Man charged in e-mail threat to O'Malley
Construction worker had complained to governor about losing work to illegal immigrants
By Jennifer McMenamin

Sun reporter

8:09 PM EDT, March 20, 2008

Walter C. Abbott Jr. has sent e-mails from time to time to the governor and state legislators complaining about losing construction work to illegal immigrants.

He never received anything but a form-letter type response.

This week, the 44-year-old Parkville man added something extra to his e-mail: a threat to strangle Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Within five hours, three Maryland state troopers responded to the e-mail. Abbott was arrested Tuesday and charged with threatening a public official.

He was being held Thursday night at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $2 million bail.

Abbott's wife of 23 years, Linda, said the e-mail was sent in frustration and that her husband would never actually hurt anyone.

"He was just mad. He's lashing out. It was just words," she said tearfully. "He's a hard-working man. He's always supported us. All he wants is work. And these illegals are taking his work."

A spokeswoman from the governor's office declined to comment on the e-mail.

But Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the state police, which assigns a trooper to accompany O'Malley and several other officials at all times, said state police investigated the threat and arrested Abbott after consulting with Baltimore County prosecutors.

Such threats are investigated on a routine basis, he said, although he declined to characterize them as "common."

"That's a big reason we have an executive protection unit," he said. "We know that people do make threats and we feel that [public officials] can be in jeopardy from time to time. We take those threats seriously."

A construction worker, Walter Abbott puts up drywall and does other work for a variety of subcontractors. He earned about $22,000 last year, according to court records.

His wife said that he has been losing jobs in recent years to illegal immigrants who seek work from the same contractors. "It's been so tough here, trying to pay the bills," she said.

He has e-mailed complaints about the governor's immigration policies, but never received any real response, his wife said.

On Tuesday, at 7 a.m., Walter Abbott logged onto O'Malley's official Web site. He wrote a letter expressing his frustration with illegal workers in the area. And, according to charging documents, he wrote that he was going to kill the governor by strangling him.

Abbott signed the letter with his full name, address and phone number.

Two hours later, the governor's executive protection unit contacted a sergeant with the state police. At 11:50 a.m., Sgt. Adam Stachurski and two other troopers went to Abbott's Parkville home.

He admitted sending the e-mail and told the troopers that he blames O'Malley for his struggling construction business, according to charging documents.

At a bail review hearing on Wednesday, Baltimore County District Judge Bruce S. Lamdin ordered that Abbott be evaluated by a psychiatrist with the state's Health and Mental Hygiene Department.

The defendant's wife said she hopes that authorities soon realize that her husband is not a danger to the governor.

"When we first moved into our house, we had mice. We put out sticky traps and he'd peel the mice off them and take them across the street to let them loose in the fields," she said. "He's not a person who would hurt anyone."

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