Tennessee state Rep. Kelly Keisling (R) on Tuesday morning forwarded an email to his constituents that warned President Barack Obama was planning to impose martial law and indefinitely delay the November elections.

The Huffington Post reported that the email was sent from Keisling’s state email account to residents across the state’s 38th district.

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“Republicans in the legislature are bound and determined to turn Tennessee into a laughing stock with their ridiculous antics,” Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said. “For Kelly Keisling to use state resources to send out a rumor-filled and dangerous email is an egregious abuse of power and tax payer dollars.”

The email, originally written by Florida-based conservative blogger Joe Angione, said there were unconfirmed rumors that Obama planned to stage an assassination attempt on his own life. The incident would be blamed on white supremacists, stirring racial unrest and allowing the President to impose martial law across the nation.

“The more we talk about the potential for a staged, bogus presidential assassination that would trigger massive civil unrest and possible martial law, the stronger is our defense against it actually occurring,” Angione wrote.

The email warned that the Department of Homeland Security was helping to coordinate the “false flag” operation. The federal agency, according to the email, was “taking their orders from the White House” and hoped to delay the November elections indefinitely.

Keisling has expressed regret for sending out the email.

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“Earlier this week, I forwarded an email from my legislative office that should not have been sent out,” he said. “The message was inappropriate for distribution. I regret the error and pledge to be more cautious regarding the information distributed from my office in the future.”

[Woman with tin foil hat via Shutterstock]