Death threats
follow vote against same-sex marriage ban

Law enforcement investigators are looking into a letter received by Minnesota state senator Satveer Chaudhary that criticized his vote against placing a same-sex marriage ban on the November ballot; the letter featured a picture of Chaudhary with a bullet hole drawn on it.

Tim Leslie, assistant commissioner for the Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that a state patrol officer is working with a Fridley police officer to determine the origins of the mailing. The hostile note was attached to a newspaper ad run by a group promoting the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions. Leslie said the return address on the mailing doesn't exist.

Chaudhary issued a news release Monday disparaging the letter as political hate speech. "One anonymous coward does not change my mission as a legislator," Chaudhary said. "It is my hope that Minnesotans will reject these blatant attempts to drive a wedge between the people of our state and not sink to their level of discourse."

The group that ran the ad, Minnesota Citizens in Defense of Marriage, condemned the letter and said it doesn't condone threats of violence. (AP)