HUNTSVILLE, AL—
Candidate concerns!Republican Bill Johnson is speaking out by telling WHNT NEWS 19 he and his family have been the target of threats in recent months.
The gubernatorial candidate says he and his family have received several letters and envelopes suggesting his life is at risk.
Bill Johnson says the letters are troubling, and he is concerned. Johnson is working with the FBI to make sure nothing happens.
Johnson says he got the first threat back in June, just a couple of months before he made an appearance at Redstone Arsenal.
Johnson says the threat came in the mail.
It's a flyer showing a service-member drinking a cup of coffee, telling Johnson to drink something else, and offering some advice.
"I felt like it was directly related to some issues I had been raising recently," said Bill Johnson.
Johnson says the flyer arrived in his mailbox inside an envelope with letterhead from the Alabama Democratic Party.
"It puzzled me at first, but then I got where I felt like it was really a threat, and something to do with my campaign for governor," added Johnson.
The State's Democratic Party tells WHNT NEWS 19 it has nothing to do with the letter. They sent over a statement saying:
"The democratic party had no part in these despicable letters sent to bill johnson. We are focused on the race between our democratic gubernatorial candidates Artur Davis and Ron Sparks. We believe any attempt to silence, or intimidate candidates, or voters must be taken seriously and investigated as it is an assault on our democracy."
Johnson told WHNT NEWS 19 he turned the letter in to the FBI a few days after getting it.
He says the threatening letters did not stop and another one came in November.
Johnson says the first one had nothing on the second one.
"That was a threat, but this last letter we got was really what I consider a death threat," added Johnson.
The latest flyer shows 12 pictures of a dog in between text that's more vulgar than what was in the first one. It also mentioned the candidate's wife.
"That was something. That was something that really scared her," added Johnson.
It jumped to another level when the U.S. Postal Service got involved. The postmaster of the Prattville Post Office intercepted the letter.
The postmaster sent a letter to the Johnson family explaining why. The candidate for governor said the picture on the envelope was loud and clear.
Bill Johnson says he is not backing out of race over the flyers. WHNT NEWS 19 did contact the FBI, but was told the agency could not comment.
WHNT NEWS 19 also received a copy of the first flyer in the mail. The return address on it appeared to be a copy of Bill Johnson's campaign logo.
WHNT NEWS 19 spoke with Johnson directly to let him know the flyers were also being sent to the media.
