An employee at the Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank based in downtown Seattle, received threatening e-mails last week, according to an SPD incident report.

The employee, identified in the officer's narrative as the Institute's Vice-President, Steven Buri, says in the report that they occasionally receive e-mails from people who disagree with the think tank's theories and call the staff "stupid." Three e-mails this week, however, were turned over to the police after Buri became alarmed by a specific line: "You've been warned asshole. Shut the fuck up or die."

The report states that Buri is concerned because the Discovery Institute is a research group that deals, in part, with Intelligent Design*. He believes that the threats were directed at the entire Institute and not any specific staffer. Repeated calls for comment to the Discovery Institute and Buri have not been returned.

*The incident report's author helpfully describes Intelligent Design as an "alternative to Darwinian Theory."