BANGOR – A Brewer man’s alleged threats to shoot members of Bangor’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has scared the group into meeting in secret for the last couple of months and has caused them to cancel their Kwanzaa celebration scheduled for December.

“It has been very scary,” Joseph Perry, president of Bangor’s NAACP chapter and a Searsport resident, said Tuesday.

The hate crimes division of the Maine Attorney General’s Office filed a civil complaint in Penobscot County Superior Court against Kendrick Sawyer, 75, of Brewer on Nov. 2, based on threats he allegedly made against the local civil rights group.

Sawyer apparently made statements to his doctor at the Togus VA Medical Center that he was “going to shoot any and all black persons that he saw attending a meeting of the NAACP at a church in Bangor,” the court document states. He made similar statements to a Department of Veterans Affairs police officer, who described the encounter with Sawyer as “chilling.”

Sawyer said in the court document that he did not like blacks and Hispanics and that “Maine should be a ‘white’ state.” He also said he owned a .45-caliber handgun, which later was removed from his home by Brewer police Capt. Jason Moffitt and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Assistant Attorney General Thomas Harnett said Tuesday that the Attorney General’s Office did know Sawyer’s location, but did not release his whereabouts, and added that the suspect had acquired an attorney to represent him in the Maine Civil Rights Act case.

“We’re trying to take steps to make sure that the NAACP, its members and supporters and all people of color feel safe, and our goal is to achieve that through an injunction,” he said. “Predicting future behavior is an imperfect science, but what we’re trying to do is put into place legal protections.”

It’s not clear whether criminal charges will be brought against Sawyer since that would have to be done by Kennebec County officials because he made the threats in Augusta, Harnett said.

Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle said he and the U.S. district attorney are reviewing the case, and he expects a decision will be made soon on whether to pursue criminal charges.

“I want to make sure everybody is safe,” Fowle said. “Even for an older person like Mr. Sawyer, this is very unsettling.”

If charged criminally, Sawyer probably would face a terrorizing charge, Fowle said.

Sawyer has no known criminal record, Moffitt said, adding that his officers are “fully aware of what has transpired.” A call to Sawyer’s Brewer house on Tuesday went unanswered.

The Greater Bangor Area NAACP had planned to hold its annual Kwanzaa celebration at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Park Street in Bangor in a couple of weeks, but the group’s members decided Sunday to cancel the event because of the threats.

“We are very upset that we canceled Kwanzaa this year, [but] not knowing where this man is” caused great concern, Perry said. “We just didn’t want to take that chance.”

The big concern is the whereabouts of Sawyer, he said.

“As far as I know, he is no longer in the hospital,” Perry said. “We took this very, very seriously because it all came from a very good source.”

In the interest of public safety, the Attorney General’s Office notified Perry and the group’s legal council of Sawyer’s threats, the court document states.

“Both the president and the legal counsel … are concerned about [Sawyer’s] threats and fear for their safety and the safety of the branch’s members and supporters,” it states.

In fact, the local NAACP chapter held its November meeting at the Bangor Police Department to ensure the safety of its members. A huge range of emotions was expressed at the meeting Sunday, Perry said.

“They held it here out of concern for a potential threat made by a gentleman at Togus,” Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said. “We just offered the Police Department as a safe place” to meet.

The Bangor Police Department also offered to supply extra security if the Kwanzaa event were held, he said.

The hate crimes division’s civil claim requests that Sawyer be banned permanently from assaulting or using physical force against any local NAACP chapter member, trespassing on its property, telephoning members or knowingly coming within 150 feet of a member or supporter of the group.

As of Tuesday, the court document had not been signed by a judge.

One NAACP member, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the situation as frightening.

“It’s pretty scary,” the member said. “In fact, our last couple of meetings had to be held in secret. We had people standing guard at the door.”

The local chapter of the NAACP has about 175 members of all races from all over the state and a few from other states. For years, the group has held a Kwanzaa event in December to kick off the African-American cultural celebration that starts the day after Christmas.

During the seven days of Kwanzaa, people celebrate the seven principles of African cultures: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

This year, Bangor’s NAACP is planning to enhance programs for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday honoring the civil rights leader observed on the third Monday in January, Perry said.

“We just thought, for this one event, it would be best to cancel it,” he said. “It’s too bad, but that’s what we did for the safety of everyone.”

Nok-Noi Ricker can be reached at nricker@bangordailynews.net or at 990-8190.