Federal prosecutors want a Mineral Springs, Ark., man accused of threatening to hang seven area Arkansas mayors in handwritten letters back in jail.
But Craven, who typically hears cases in the Eastern District of Texas and was sitting in for U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant, released Bryan on a $10,000 unsecured bond.
Bryan allegedly mailed letters Jan. 5, 2015, to the mayors of Ashdown, Hope, De Queen, Lewisville, Nashville, Prescott and Murfreesboro threatening to hang them from trees if they didn't get rid of the "filthy Common Core" public school curriculum and put religion back in classrooms. At Bryan's detention hearing, a federal agent testified the letters were signed 2nd Lt. Gary Owen, which is the same name appearing in a Thrifty Nickel advertisement published in August and December "seeking to borrow $23 million to equip and train a Christian militia to restructure the country."
The agent said a confidential source responded to the ad and met with Bryant at his home in mid-February. During the meeting, which was recorded, Bryan allegedly expressed a desire to hang all living U.S. presidents, "especially Jimmy."
Harris filed a motion March 31 appealing Craven's decision to U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas.
"The United States asserts that the defendant is a danger to the community and should be detained pending a trial," the motion states. "The defendant has a history of violating laws regarding possession of firearms by convicted felons."
Harris' motion notes that at the time of Bryan's arrest March 18, a 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition found in his home "represents the fourth time the defendant has been unlawfully found in possession of a firearm."
Bryan was convicted in 1987 of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle, as well as for receiving two handguns while under indictment, the motion argues. Bryan was convicted of being a felon in possession of a gun in March 1998 and again in March 2014. He is currently serving a term of felony probation in Howard County, Ark., for that offense.
At his detention hearing, Bryan readily admitted he penned the letters to the mayors, though he was evasive when Harris asked him if he told the undercover source who met with him in February, "I knew that when I was a youngster that I was the man that was going to overthrow this country."
Bryan's colorful testimony at the March hearing included statements about being a "brawler" and a "tough old bird," and the declaration that he "never meant no harm to no man."
Bryan's lawyer, Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, filed a response to the government's motion in which he argues Craven made the right decision. Harrelson points out that since his release March 28, Bryan has complied with his conditions of release.
Hickey has not issued a ruling on the detention issue and a hearing on the matter has not been set. Bryan is scheduled for a jury trial before Hickey next month in Texarkana.
If found guilty of threatening the seven Arkansas mayors, Bryan faces a fine up to $250,000, up to five years in federal prison, or both on each of the seven counts of mailing threatening communications listed in his indictment.