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Former Mayoral Hopeful Arrested on Gun Charges |
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By Barney McManigal
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Friday, May 11 2007 |
Santa Barbara officials and residents expressed shock after learning on Thursday that one-time mayoral candidate Matthew Hunter Kramer was arrested several weeks ago for allegedly pulling a gun on a Republican Party representative in Las Vegas and threatening to kill him and others.
Kramer, who finished well behind Mayor Marty Blum and other candidates in the city's 2005 elections, was charged with numerous felonies on April 19, including “criminal syndicalism” and assault with a deadly weapon, according to a statement released by the Las Vegas Police Department and the F.B.I.
 Matthew Hunter Kramer
Kramer, 31, explained that if President Bush vetoed a certain bill, he “would take action into his own hands,” police said. The statement did not indicate what legislation Kramer was referring to, but the president recently vetoed a plan to curtail funding for the Iraq war. The statement also said Kramer told the employee that he would “kill everyone else” when he returned.
Authorities apprehended the suspect April 19. After searching his Las Vegas home, they reportedly found a 12-gauge shotgun and shells; three swords; three knives; and a flare gun.
Santa Barbara Newsroom learned of the arrest from several regional and national websites. Blum, who easily won reelection in 2005, said she was surprised by the news and never felt threatened by Kramer, who ran a biofuels company.
“He seemed pretty benign,” Blum said. “It surprises me because I didn’t know he had that kind of thing in him.”
Kramer, a Santa Ynez High School graduate who once lived in the Santa Barbara marina, received less than five percent of the vote in 2005. He ran for mayor after the city cited him for dumping debris into the harbor. |
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