By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe maintained his regular schedule today and said he would continue to do so despite receiving a warning from a little-known group to leave office immediately.

Governors across the nation have received a letter from the group Guardians of the Free Republics this week demanding that they remove themselves from office within three days or be forcibly removed, authorities said.

Beebe said he received the letter Wednesday and turned it over to state police, which is responsible for governor’s security. The FBI is also looking into the threat, he said.

The governor said he has not altered his schedule because of the threat.

“Security is in charge of all that. I do my job and it’s up to security to do their job,” he said. “I’m just focused on doing my job.”

State police spokesman Bill Sadler said the agency is “aware of what’s going on around the country and are in consultation with the FBI.”

He declined to discuss specifics of any beefed-up efforts to protect the governor.

Steve Frazier, spokesman for the FBI in Little Rock, said the agency “is not aware of any immediate or credible threats of violence on the part of this group toward our governor.”

According to its Web site, the anti-government group advocates the peaceful dismantling of government with the cooperation of the U.S. military, and it promotes peaceful reconstruction of the “de jure institutions of government” without controversy, violence or civil war.

Describing the letter he received to reporters today, Beebe likened the missive to a manifesto.

“It was one of those really long letters that had signatures from all 50 states,” he said. “It basically said ‘resign, then ask for forgiveness and we will reinstate you and if you sign this we’ll consider you re-elected.’”

Beebe said his office periodically receives threats but that he has not noticed an increase in recent months.