Conservative blogger 
protests visit from the FBI

Missouri blogger Clay Bowler is up in arms after being targeted by the FBI as a potential threat to newly elected Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.). 

Bowler is the author of a blog called Long is Wrong, in which he has questioned whether Long is conservative enough.

Bowler told local media that he was shocked last week when an FBI agent stopped by his house accompanied by Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott. They told him that in the wake of the shooting spree in Tucson, Ariz., last Saturday, Long had identified Bowler as a possible threat.

“It’s political payback,” Bowler told the Christian County Headliner News. “I’ve poked fun at Billy. Part of it was satire — exposing Billy as not being a real Tea Party candidate.” Long was elected in November to the seat formerly held by now-Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). 

In response to Bowler’s accusation, Long’s office issued this statement: “We will continue to work with the Capitol Hill Police and will follow their advice at every turn, as we have thus far. Any questions regarding this matter should be addressed to the Capitol Hill Police.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police declined to comment.

But according to Sheriff Arnott, Bowler might not be the only person who’ll have a chance to talk to a G-Man about Long. Arnott told KSPR that Long identified several other people as potential threats. 

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