Defense attorneys have requested a competency hearing for an Orem man who is
charged with threatening a number of high-profile public officials, including a
judge, a police chief and Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert.

Bradley Roberts Taylor, 42, was charged in late February with one count of
terroristic threats, a second-degree felony, after a Utah Highway Patrol trooper
who is responsible for protecting dignitaries at the Utah State Capitol said she
learned of threatening e-mails to Herbert and Rep. Brad Daw, R-Orem. Trooper
Carolina Herrin wrote that Taylor also made threatening comments about Judge

John Backlund of Orem’s 4th District Court, Orem police Chief Michael Larsen and
Orem city prosecutor Robert Church.

Taylor will be evaluated by two doctors before his next hearing, which is
scheduled for April 23, according to prosecutor Chad Grunander. In an affidavit
filed in Provo’s 4th District Court, Herrin wrote that Taylor underwent
psychological evaluations at the Utah State Hospital, where he was previously
confined for one year and nine months, and was arrested in 2004 for allegedly
threatening Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. A doctor who oversaw Taylor’s treatment after
his release from the Utah State Hospital said Taylor is prone to violence when
he is not taking antipsychotic and antidepressant medications.

According to the affidavit, Taylor said in an e-mail to Herbert that he has
been a victim of government tyranny and oppression for the past 20 years. Taylor
wrote to Herbert that he wanted the government to return his driver’s license
and dismiss DUI charges that were filed against him. In an e-mail to Daw, he
wrote that he wanted his Second Amendment rights to be restored, Herrin said.
Taylor sent more than 63 threatening e-mails to Daw, including one in November
in which he wrote that he has “no problem using justifiable lethal force in self
defense,” and, “If I have to defend myself, it will be a bloody revolution,”
according to Herrin’s affidavit.

Taylor also referenced a February shooting spree in which Charles Lee
Thornton killed five people at a city council meeting in Kirkwood, Mo. Thornton
had a long history of disagreements and hostility with city officials.

“Now, I demand justice, liability and victim reparation for the 20 years of
hell,” Taylor wrote, according to Herrin’s affidavit. “I want to avoid
bloodshed, but I see no other way. The spirit of the Lord has revealed to me
that revolution is inevitable.”

Taylor is being held at the Utah County Jail on $100,000 cash-only bail.
Grunander said the case is stayed while court officials await the results of his
psychological evaluation.

“I can’t speak to what his specific intentions were with respect to the
allegations, but certainly, having received a case like this from law
enforcement, this is a case we treat very seriously,” Grunander said. “We’re
very serious about addressing this matter and finding out what Mr. Taylor was up
to, and I think the $100,000 cash-only bail is evidence of the seriousness of
this case.”

Herrin wrote that she spoke with Taylor’s roommate and another close friend
of his, both of whom said that Taylor is extremely violent, speaks often of
killing and harming government officials, and is “just waiting for the right
opportunity to present itself.” Taylor’s roommate and friend said that he has
owned several weapons and is an avid shooter.