The Daily Populous Monday December 30th, 2024 night edition
Authored by cnn.com and submitted by Idolmistress

A Texas man was arrested Friday for allegedly sending threatening messages to an unnamed debt collection agency over email, in which he expressed frustration over a disputed debt, according to court documents.

Taylor Bullard, 34, claimed he was wrongfully contacted for collections of $543 and lashed out at a debt collection agency for its efforts to collect the sum, the documents show.

“This debt is not valid. I paid (Capital One) several times for this same account,” Bullard allegedly wrote in an email to the debt collection agency December 12, according to court documents. “Call me before I show up to one of their locations with a machete and gasoline.”

Bullard, who allegedly wrote in the email that he has a $100k income, accused the debt collection agency of impeding his ability to buy a home.

“(I)t’s time I target the people and companies that have ruined my ability to live the life I deserve. I will be coming after your executive team personally,” he added in the email, which was contained in a December 19 affidavit.

The email to the debt collection agency comes amid heightened concerns within corporate America in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York sidewalk. The suspect in his killing, Luigi Mangione, expressed anger against the health insurance industry and against “corporate greed” as a whole, according to an NYPD intelligence report obtained by CNN after his December 9 arrest.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges he is facing.

The FBI traced the threatening message to Bullard’s home and reviewed his email records, court records show.

The affidavit says Bullard has a history of making threats, including a 2017 email in which he allegedly threatened to release anthrax, an infectious disease, at another company’s event. In 2022, he left a voicemail threatening to open fire with an AK-47 at another company.

The FBI interviewed Bullard after the anthrax threat, the affidavit says, and Bullard allegedly said he was seeking attention and “wanted to see the companies sweat,” rather than harm himself or others.

Bullard faces one count of sending threatening interstate communications, which could result in up to five years in prison. He was released on a $25,000 bond.

CNN is attempting to reach an attorney for Bullard.

CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.

SaltyShawarma on December 29th, 2024 at 19:42 UTC »

"You never say, "I'm gonna fight you, Steve." You just smile and act natural, and then you sucker-punch him."

nchwomp on December 29th, 2024 at 19:40 UTC »

Hmm. Is it only a staple of police fiction that police can’t act on threats, only actions?

ItIsYourPersonality on December 29th, 2024 at 19:30 UTC »

There are surely more convenient methods of igniting gasoline than with a machete