An Illinois man was arrested Tuesday for making threatening feedback to a New Jersey congressman about President-elect Joe Biden’s upcoming inauguration, allegedly saying he’ll “kill any [expletive] Democrat” who steps on the White House garden.
Louis Capriotti, 45, who lives in a Chicago suburb, allegedly instructed the congressman in a Dec. 29 voicemail that if folks “think that Joe Biden is going to put his hand on the Bible and walk into that [expletive] White House on January 20th, they’re sadly [expletive] mistaken.”
“We will surround the [expletive] White House and we will kill any [expletive] Democrat that steps on the [expletive] lawn,” he went on to say within the voicemail, in keeping with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
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Capriotti was arrested Tuesday morning at his residence and charged with transmitting a risk in interstate commerce, a federal crime that carries as much as a five-year sentence.
“Our office takes the security of our public servants very seriously,” mentioned U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr., who’s prosecuting the case. “Individuals who cross the line of free speech by making unlawful threats will be held accountable.”
Authorities are on excessive alert forward of Biden’s inauguration subsequent Wednesday following the U.S. Capitol riots that left 5 folks lifeless final week. The National Guard is deploying 15,000 troops to Washington, D.C. to supply safety for the occasion.
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The FBI has warned of armed protests in any respect 50 state capitals round Inauguration Day.
The National Park Service introduced it’s shutting down excursions of the Washington Monument via the inauguration “in response to credible threats to visitors and park resources.”
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Biden mentioned Monday that he’s “not afraid of taking the oath outside” the U.S. Capitol constructing when he’s sworn into workplace subsequent week.
“It is critically important that there’ll be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engaged in sedition and threatening the lives, defacing public property, caused great damage, that they be held accountable,” the president-elect instructed reporters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.