RALEIGH - A North Carolina man will face charges today in federal court that he made death threats to the nation's most prominent Hispanic advocacy group.

Leaders of the National Council of La Raza, based in Washington D.C., say the man, Christopher Szaz, sent e-mails threatening to kill their employees and Hispanics in general.

Lisa Navarrete, a vice president for the group, said Szaz is the first person to be charged for sending threats to the group. But she said that in the past two years, La Raza has begun receiving regular threats and hate message. Navarrete said they report all of them to the FBI, and that they have stepped up security and begun using body guards at large events.

"We always get hate mail, and we always get people opposed to what we're thinking," Navarrete said. "But this is another level. These are people actually threatening bodily harm and death."

La Raza leaders will hold a press conference today at noon outside the federal courthouse in Raleigh to draw attention to threats against Hispanics.

Szaz's case will be heard at the courthouse in the afternoon.

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