Seattle firefighter employee charged for sending threatening emails to Kshama Sawant from city email address

SEATTLE - The Seattle firefighter accused of sending threatening, disturbing emails to Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant from a colleague's city email address has been formally charged with cyberstalking and identity theft. 

Andrew Finseth, a 42-year-old firefighter who lives in Shoreline, has been on paid administrative leave since his arrest on Feb. 12, pending the "upcoming legal process and internal investigation," Seattle Fire said in a statement. 

In a letter sent to city officials in January, Sawant said the emails began in December 2020 with a message telling her to leave town. 

From there, the messages became more sinister, Sawant says, with the "most ominous" message sent Jan. 18.

Investigators questioned the firefighter whose email address was used, which led them to Finseth.

According to court documents, Finseth later admitted to police that he called the department's IT division and requested password changes to his colleague's email address. 

He told police he was the one who sent the emails to Sawant, but said he did it to get his colleague in trouble, not because he wanted to harm Sawant. 

Finseth also reportedly emailed a department superviser twice requesting transfers under his colleague's name.