A federal grand jury has indicted a man from Minnesota for allegedly threatening to assassinate a United States senator.
Brendon Daugherty is being held at the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minnesota, on accusations of threatening to murder a U.S. official and transmitting a threat across state lines. Tuesday he will appear in court. It is unclear whether he has hired an attorney to represent him.
The only information available regarding the senator is that it is not a senator from Minnesota who was threatened.
In June, Daugherty allegedly left two threatening voicemails at the senator’s field office, as detailed in the indictment. The field office personnel contacted Capitol Police.
According to a Justice Department press release, Daugherty claimed in his first message, “You and the Republican Party should be pleased of your efforts to convert me into a domestic terrorist. Have a [curse word] day; I can’t wait to kill you.” In his second communication, Daugherty stated: “I also wanted to mention that, thank God, the Republican Party opposes gun control regulations because they would keep guns out of the hands of disabled and volatile people like me, but you guys are completely opposed to that. Thus, I may be able to realize my malicious objectives.”
The release continued by stating that the senator’s field office workers recorded and submitted the two communications to U.S. Capitol Police.
On September 2, FBI investigators met with Daugherty at his residence in Coon Rapids. According to the Star Tribune, he told the agents he made the calls because the senator was “doing a bunch of crazy (expletive) with gun control” and because he wants politicians to “feel a little bit of pressure.”
According to court documents, Daugherty, 35, was convicted of two felony counts in October 2018 for threatening to burn down a Pearl Vision store in Maple Grove and harm the staff. According to accusations, Daugherty was unhappy that he owed $80 for replacement spectacles.