Alabama man arrested after threatening St. Michael's Abbey in California

An Alabama man was arrested late last month after investigators say he drove to a Catholic abbey in Silverado Canyon, Calif., and threatened clergy in person following earlier threatening emails, authorities said. Joshua Michael Richardson, 38, of Jemison, Alabama, was detained Aug. 28 in a Santa Monica parking structure and later booked on suspicion of making criminal threats, officials said.

Prosecutors allege Richardson sent a threatening email to St. Michael's Abbey on Aug. 19 in which he reportedly identified himself as the rider of the pale horse and as Saint Michael the Archangel, and said he would travel to the abbey. Investigators say Richardson arrived in California on Aug. 26, attended afternoon services and followed a priest to a private area of the church, telling the priest he had come to "do the Lord's work" and to "separate the weak from the weeds," according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. A priest reported those in-person remarks and the earlier emails to the Orange County Sheriff's Department two days later, Sgt. Gerard McCann said.

Deputies located Richardson in his vehicle in the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica and detained him...