New Hampshire man is arrested after threatening to kill US Senator
A New Hampshire man faces up to 10 years in prison after threatening to kill a US senator because he was angry that the senator was “blocking military promotions,” according to federal court documents.
The The US Attorney for the District of New Hampshire has announced this on Friday that Brian Landry, 66, of Franklin, NH, was charged with threatening to assault, kidnap or kill a US official.
Mr. Landry called a senator’s county office on May 17 and left a threatening voicemail message, according to court documents. The senator threatened by Mr. Landry was not named in court documents, which only stated that the senator has been in office since January 2021.
“Hey dummy, I’m a skilled sniper,” Mr. Landy said into the voicemail. “Unless you change your ways, I’ve set my sights on you and I’m coming for you. You’re a dead man,” he said, adding some expletives.
Investigators tracked down Mr. Landry based on the phone number associated with the message, the US Attorney’s Office said. When interviewed by detectives, Mr. Landry admitted calling the senator’s office, though he initially said he didn’t remember what he said in the message, according to court documents.
During the interview, Mr. Landry told investigators that he was “extremely angry with certain politicians for their handling of important veterans’ rights programs,” according to the indictment.
Mr. Landry later told investigators he called the senator’s office because he heard the senator was “blocking military promotions,” according to the indictment.
According to court documents, Mr. Landry will appear in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire on July 12. If Mr. Landry, if convicted, could face sentences of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
A lawyer for Mr Landry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Elected officials, politicians and their families have faced an increase in threats in recent years as violent political expressions become more common. Such threats in voicemail messages and through social media have sometimes become more concrete, as was the case last June when a man armed with a gun, knife and other weapons said he had traveled to the Justice Department’s home Brett M. Kavanaugh intends to kill the Supreme Court justice. In October, a man broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco and hit her husband with a hammer, fracturing his skull.
While federal prosecutors failed to identify the intended senator, the promotions of senior military commanders were held in the Senate because they got caught up in the abortion policy debate after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court.