Murray received threats last year

Two men were arrested last year — and one is serving a federal prison sentence — in connection with violent threats directed at U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

While there were no reports of attempted attacks on the senator or her staff, concerns about Murray's safety were grave enough that U.S. Capitol Police accompanied the senator during at least one campaign event near the end of the 2010 election season.

Murray's office would not comment on those incidents or any security precautions after Saturday's shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat.

Murray's national profile has grown in recent years as she's risen to a leadership position among Senate Democrats. During the 2010 election she was frequently a target for conservative vitriol for her positions on the health-care bill and other controversial legislation.

Last February, a tea-party activist speaking at a rally in Eastern Washington drew applause when she suggested Murray should be "hung." (The activist later told The Associated Press she only meant Murray should be voted out of office.)

In March, Charles Alan Wilson, 64, of Selah, Yakima County, made several profanity-laced threats in phone messages to Murray's office. "I hope you realize there's a target on your back now ... Kill the [senator]! I'll donate the lead," he said in one message, according to the charge filed by the FBI.

Wilson was sentenced last fall to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to threatening a federal official.

And in Spokane on Oct. 14, a man was arrested after he repeatedly drove past Murray supporters shouting threats and waving a meat cleaver.

The man, 50-year-old John Sieler, was charged in November with threatening a federal officer.

After the meat-cleaver incident, U.S. Capitol Police were seen accompanying Murray during a late-October campaign stop at Seattle Central Community College.

Murray's office would not comment on the reasons for the unusual security measure.

Like several other members of Washington's congressional delegation, Murray issued a statement deploring the Arizona attacks.

"All Americans understand that this kind of senseless violence has no place in our society and I join with them in condemning this act and hoping for the very best for all those who are fighting to survive," Murray's statement said.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com