A New York man has been arrested and charged with threatening to murder two U.S. Senators over the confirmation vote for new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Following a contentious confirmation process, Kavanaugh was confirmed to the court on Oct. 6.
DeRisi left more than 10 threatening voicemails at the offices of the two Senators, who have not been identified, beginning on Sept. 27, according to the complaint.
“The threats in the voice-messages were apparently made to discourage Senator-1 and Senator-2 from supporting Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination and/or as retaliation for having voted to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court,” according to the complaint.
In one voice message left for one of the Senators on Oct. 6, DeRisi stated in part: “You better pray this guy don’t get in...” Less than 90 minutes later, he called the same Senator and left a message that stated, in part, “I’m gonna get you.”
To the other Senator, DeRisi said in a voice message sent on Sept. 27, that he had a “present” for the official, stating in part, “It’s a nine millimeter. Side of your ... skull.” The message ended with the defendant allegedly saying, “Yeah, Kavanaugh. I don’t think so.”
DeRisi was identified through telephone records and voice tests. The United States Capitol Police executed a search warrant on his house after he was arrested and seized the cellular telephone officials said was the one used to leave the threatening voice messages.
“Representative democracy cannot work if elected officials are threatened with death for simply doing their job,” Richard Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
