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Activists demonstrate in front of the Capitol to protest Supreme Court candidate Brett M. Kavanaugh's confirmation vote on October 6 in Washington. (Alex Brandon / AP)
Mike DeBonis
Congress reporter covering the House of Representatives
The federal authorities arrested a 74-year-old man in New York on Friday threatening two US senators to vote for Supreme Court candidate Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Ronald DeRisi of Smithtown, N, Y., is accused of making phone calls to offices of unnamed Senators between September 27 and October 8 and uttering vulgar death threats.
"He's a dead man," he said in a phone call in September, according to an investigator's affidavit. "Nine millimeters, on the side of the [expletive] head. Yes [expletive] Kavanaugh enters, he is dead [expletive] me to. In fact, even if Kavanaugh does not enter, he is dead [expletive] me to. "
On October 6, the day of Kavanaugh's confirmation, DeRisi reportedly told another senator, "You'd better pray to this guy not to come in." Recalling less than an hour and a half later, he reportedly said, "I'll pick you up.
According to the affidavit, US Capitol police used phone and bank records to trace calls to DeRisi. DeRisi had previously pleaded guilty in 2015 to making threatening phone calls to someone from Long Island.
DeRisi has not yet retained the services of a lawyer nor been assigned to him, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Long Island on Friday.
"Representative democracy can not work if elected officials are threatened with death for simply doing their job," said Richard P. Donoghue, US District Attorney for the New York District in the east of the country. "The First Amendment – the pinnacle of American success – protects debate, disagreement and dissent, not death threats."
The charges against DeRisi highlight a series of illegal political threats from opponents of Kavanaugh's controversial confirmation. A 27-year-old former Senate staffer was arrested earlier this month for allegedly publishing the phone numbers and personal addresses of three Republican senators who supported Kavanaugh. An unknown man posted a threatening letter mentioning Kavanaugh in Bangor, Maine, at Senator Susan Collins' house, falsely claiming that the letter contained poison.
These incidents, as well as the legal but aggressive tactics of activists opposed to Kavanaugh, led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) And other Republicans to accuse Democrats of "crowd behavior". ". However, the activity was not confined to one side.
A Florida man was indicted on October 3 after threatening to shoot members of Congress and their families if Kavanaugh was in jail. do not confirmed.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, James Royal Patrick Jr. wrote on social media that if Kavanaugh was not confirmed, "Whomever I think is to blame, may God have mercy on their souls. ".
Speaking Thursday in Montana, President Trump hailed the assassination of a Republican journalist, who had tried to ask him a question about a health care bill. "All the guys who can do a body slam, it's my kind – it's my guy," Trump told Greg Gianforte's representative (R-Mont.).
Gianforte pleaded guilty to the May 2017 assault, which had occurred a few days before a hotly contested special election.
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