Federal officials stated that a Maine man was arrested Tuesday on federal charges for sending a threatening voicemail to a neighbor.
According to the indictment, Charles Allen Barnes, 47, of Lewiston, allegedly used an interstate communications service to transmit a voice message.
He used racial slurs and stated that he was outside a neighbor’s residence and would kill any Black person who emerged. Barnes also allegedly chose the neighbor as the object of the offense because of the neighbor’s race.
According to the indictment, “Specifically, defendant Charles Allen Barnes used an internet-based multimedia messaging service to transmit a recorded message to D.F., in which he stated: ‘I’ve been parked outside (K.T.’s) apartment since early this f..king morning, sis. Waiting for someone to step outside, and the first one who does is gonna die. Just like that. I don’t care if it’s her kid, or her, or her boyfriend. I don’t care, I don’t care. I’m killing me a n….r.”
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Barnes is charged with one count of violating the federal interstate threats statute. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
The FBI Boston Division investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila W. Sawyer for the District of Maine and Trial Attorney Alec Ward of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.
For more information and resources on the department’s efforts to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.