SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah man who police say threatened to assassinate Gov. Gary Herbert is now facing multiple felony charges.
Brian Biff Baker was charged Friday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court with felony counts of drug and weapons possession, along with a misdemeanor count of threatening elected officials.
Court records show no hearings are set in the case. The 52-year-old Baker is being held in the Salt Lake County jail. Bail is set at $25,007. It was not immediately clear whether Baker had an attorney.
Court papers say Baker was conducting surveillance on the Governor's Mansion in Salt Lake City.
The records also say that on Feb. 2, Baker had sent text messages to a friend stating that he was lying in the bushes and intended to kill the governor. The recipient of the texts reported the messages to police and Baker was arrested the same day, court papers say.
In his messages, Baker said he had been casing the place and that authorities would utter an expletive "when the explosions start ... should be funny as hell, it's a dangerous mission," a police affidavit filed in support of the charges states.
