Everett Basham, 45, a noted Silicon Valley engineer who just got a personal endorsement from Steve Wozniak, was arrested Tuesday for making assassination threats on the life of Senator Leland Yee. Yee, meanwhile, is used to such threats — having also tried to ban the sale of violent video games to kids a couple years back, angering many. But this time, Yee says he was "deeply concerned by the calculating nature of this email," which was one of dozens he received following his proposed ban on quick-changing ammunition magazines.

The email, which was deemed a credible threat and used an anonymous name and email account, gave specifics about when and where the killing would take place if Yee didn't withdraw the legislation. The emailer said he had sniper training and an AR-15 assault rifle, the kind used in the Newtown, Connecticut massacre.

Upon arrest at the home of a Sunnyvale relative, CHP officers found a loaded, concealed weapon in his vehicle. At Basham's home, they found a cache of homemade explosives.

Wozniak, meanwhile, spoke to a local TV crew Wednesday and defended his friend Basham, calling him "a brilliant engineer” and a “champion for the common person” who was “distrustful of the government, as many of us are."

Basham is being held without bail for making threats against a public official, and possession of explosives.

[Examiner]