AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 27-year-old Missouri man was arrested and accused of sending threatening emails to Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller earlier this month, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Mitchell Ryan Melber was charged with terroristic threat and was booked into the Travis County jail on Feb. 20 on a $25,000 bond, according to online court records.
Court records said officials tracked Melber’s home address to Wildwood, Missouri, along with the email address he used.
KXAN reached out to Miller’s office for a statement. Miller reached out to KXAN and said an arrest warrant from the Texas Department of Public Safety was obtained for Melber.
Melber sent an email on Feb. 12 to both Miller and the president of a hemp processing company, court records said. The subject line was titled “Murder.” In that email, Melber said, “If you’re not going to work with me, I’ll work against you and physically kill you. Yes, you read that correctly.” Neither Miller nor the president of the hemp processing company responded to the email, according to the affidavit.
Court records said Miller “was concerned by the email due to current events going on in the world” and he feared “serious bodily injury.”
An attorney was not listed for Melber, as of Wednesday. We will update this if that changes.
Melber sent an email to Miller and the president of the hemp processing company on Feb. 10 titled “Employment” and said, “One of you are hiring me today. I know you are having major trouble growing industrial hemp, everyone in the World wide hemp industry knows because there has been failed plots with almost every seed variety from every nation year after year… Just offer me a job so we can move forward and quit beating around the bush,” court records said.
Melber then emailed Miller again on Feb. 13 saying he was going to be in Texas for an event where he would have “a few” of his firearms sold and requested an “in-person meeting” with Miller.
Law enforcement in Missouri interviewed Melber earlier this month, during which he admitted to sending the emails to Miller and said he “still intended on traveling to Texas at some point,” according to the affidavit.
Miller told KXAN after Melber was interviewed by Missouri officials that he left and was headed to Texas regardless.
“He still packed up his guns and was headed to Texas. That was really concerning,” he said.
Melber was apprehended in Oklahoma by the Oklahoma State Police, and the Texas Department of Public Safety apprehended him and brought him to Travis County, Miller said.