A pro-life man named Michael Brogan allegedly threatened to murder a sitting Senator earlier this month “in retaliation for the United States Senator’s criticism of [President Donald Trump] and the Senator’s position concerning reproductive rights.”
He’s since been charged with making a threat through interstate communications on the basis of one unfortunate voicemail.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York provided the following transcription of that voicemail message:
You listen carefully. Stupid ass excuse. You call yourself a Senator, you’re a piece of shit. You are an absolute piece of shit, Senator. Senator, and I put that in quotation marks…you’re a fucking phony. You watch your ass cause I [unintelligible], I’m going to put a bullet in ya. When I’m in D.C. and you’re there, I got your fucking mark you stupid bitch. You and your constant lambasting of President Trump. Oh, and reproductive rights, reproductive rights. You know what? I’m cursing and I’m in sin because of people like you, ok? Cause I value the God given right to life. You are alive. You should thank our lord and savior Jesus Christ that you are alive. If I saw you, I’d snuff your stupid fucking ass. I’d put a fucking bullet in you. You watch your ass. If I see you on the streets, I’m gonna fucking light you up with fucking bullets.
U.S. Capitol Police Special Agent John R. Delegan also took stock of various pro-life social media posts attributed to Brogan.
“I have also reviewed Brogan’s social media information, including information in which he previously indicated that in or about January 2017 and in or about January 2018 he traveled Washington, D.C. for the annual ‘March for Life,'” the arrest warrant affidavit notes. The filing continues:
Specifically, Brogan posted on social media in or about January 2017, “on way to march for life 2017 in our nation’s capital.” In a separate social media post regarding the 2018 March for Life Brogan posted, “[o]n the charter bus with St. Francis DeSales parish of Belle Harbour to March for Life 2018 in Washington, DC. Will this be the year?” Additional investigation has determined that the annual March for Life is currently scheduled to take place in or about January 2019 in Washington, D.C.
In a subsequent sit-down interview, Brogan allegedly told Delegan that the Senator’s criticism of President Trump made him “very angry.”
This isn’t the first time in recent months that violent and politically-charged threats have landed folks in trouble.
In August, 68-year-old Robert Chain threatened to shoot someone in the head at the Boston Globe. Prior to that, Chain had parroted Trump’s characterization of the media as “the enemy of the people.” In October, 74-year-old Ronald DeRisi was charged with leaving threatening voicemails against two U.S. Senators over their support for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The Senator allegedly threatened by Brogan is not currently being named.
[image via MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images]
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