ASUA Sen. Rhonda Tubbs received a suspicious e-mail March 9 that contained several “”death threats”” directed toward members of her family.
The e-mail was submitted to her as a volunteer submission on her Associated Students of the University of Arizona campaign Web site, and was then sent directly to Tubbs’ university e-mail address.
Tubbs’ said she assumed the threats were made because of her association with ASUA because the sender wouldn’t have simply picked a random student.
Tubbs ran for ASUA’s executive vice president position earlier this month but was disqualified for having too many elections code violations.
The sender said he or she was very happy Tubbs didn’t win the election and also threatened the life of Tubbs’ mother and other family members.
“”(The e-mail) was very short, concise and definitely to the point,”” Tubbs said.
According to the police report filed by Tubbs, the e-mail writer said that Tubbs’ mother was going to die.
Tubbs said she didn’t become upset about the e-mail until an ASUA computer technician informed her it was considered a death threat.
“”This day and age you can’t take these sorts of things lightly,”” Tubbs said. “”You just don’t know if people are joking or serious.””
The computer technician attempted to find the originating IP address, but was cut short when it was discovered the e-mail had been sent from a Web site that requires a subpoena to be released.
It was at that time Tubbs decided to report the incident to the University of Arizona Police Department and also request a subpoena, which she hopes will be granted this week.
Although she immediately told her family about the e-mail, Tubbs said she waited to tell them the threats were directed toward them.
“”(My family) is very upset on my behalf,”” Tubbs said. “”The threats towards my family were absolutely uncalled for.””
Tubbs said she had been through a lot this semester and is not letting the threats faze her, but admits they didn’t help.
“”Emotionally, it’s been very draining this entire semester,”” Tubbs said.
UAPD spokesman Sgt. Eugene Mejia said when the first thing UAPD does when they receive reports of a threatening e-mail is determine whether it was sent internally through the university’s e-mail system.
If the e-mail is sent externally, like the one Tubbs’ received, Mejia said UAPD would ask the recipient if he or she wants to pursue charges. If there is a desire to pursue charges, UAPD would obtain a search warrant for the e-mail address holder and “”hopefully be able to identify the sender,”” Mejia said.
Mejia said if someone receives a threat of any kind, UAPD should be contacted immediately – especially if it occurs on campus.
