WICHITA (AP) – Charles Koch says he and his brother and their employees are getting death threats and hate messages because of their political beliefs.

The billionaire head of Koch Industries has told The Wichita Eagle the messages are coming from various directions. His comments came ahead of a three-day protest dubbed Occupy Koch Town that is expected to draw hundreds of activists to Wichita.

Koch says the hate mail and death threats worry him. But he says what most upsets him is all he has done is exercise his freedom of speech.

Yvonne Cather is conservation chairman for the Kansas chapter of the Sierra Club, one of the groups organizing this weekend’s Occupy Koch Town event. She says the Koch people are overreacting to the planned activities.