Henry's Office Receives Anti-Government Letter

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gov. Brad Henry's office confirmed it received a letter this week from an anti-government group that sent notes to more than 30 governors seeking their removal.

Read a copy of a DHS/FBI intelligence note obtained by CNN.

Henry's spokesman Paul Sund said the letter arrived Wednesday and was handed over to the governor's security team and federal authorities.

Sund said he couldn't discuss details surrounding the letter or what it said.

"I think security would not like those details released," Sund said. "We were pre-warned that it was coming by federal authorities."

A group that calls itself the Guardians of the free Republics wants to "restore America" by peacefully dismantling parts of the government, according to its Web site.

"This is not completely unusual but maybe the national scope makes it a little more noteworthy," Sund said.

As of Wednesday, more than 30 governors had received letters stating if they don't leave office within three days they will be removed, according to an internal intelligence note by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The note was obtained by The Associated Press.

Capt. Chris West, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, which provides security for the governor, confirmed a letter was received, but would not discuss any changes to the governor's security detail.

"Just discussing it could compromise what we do," West said. "There's bad guys that read the news too."

Utah's governor was among the first to receive the letter, and security has been beefed up around the capitol there.

Officials won't say if extra security measures have been taken for Gov. Henry.

"We take every one of these issues very seriously and are taking appropriate precautions," Sund said.

The letters came the same week federal authorities arrested nine members of a militia group that allegedly planned to kill police in Michigan in an attempt to overthrow the government.

The FBI said the letters don't specifically mention acts of violence, but the message could be interpreted differently by others

"We have to look at it. We have to monitor it. We have to see what other states, how are they responding to it," said Kerry Pettingill, Director for Oklahoma Homeland Security.

The FBI associate the letter with so-called "sovereign citizens." They are a group of people who believe they don't have to pay taxes or have a driver license. A small number of them are armed and resort to violence.

More: Extremist Group Threatens to Remove Governors By Force