A Pennsylvania-based man admitted to threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and impersonating members of the Trump family on social media in an effort to raise funds for a fraudulent political organization on Friday.
Without naming Swalwell directly, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams announced that Joshua Hall, 22, pled guilty to one count of “making interstate communications with a threat to injure, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Hall previously pled guilty to “one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.”
Hall placed multiple calls to the California Democrat’s office from Yonkers, New York, telling staff members in August he had “a lot of AR-15s” and would attempt to assassinate the congressman if he saw him.
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“Joshua Hall made terrifying threats to the staff of a United States congressman whom he disliked rather than attempting to effect change through any of the freedoms of expression that all Americans enjoy,” Williams said in a statement.
“These threats of violence endanger our public officials and thwart common decency, which is why this Office will continue to prosecute crimes like those committed by Joshua Hall.”
Hall’s sentencing is slated to take place on Dec. 8, 2022.
Members of Congress have seen an uptick in threats in recent years, with multiple members of the Jan. 6 select committee receiving security details as a result.
The news of Hall pleading guilty comes the same day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband, Paul Pelosi, was violently attacked at his home in the early hours of Friday morning. The assailant asked “where is Nancy” after breaking into their San Francisco home while Nancy was in Washington, CNN reported.
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Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who is running for governor, also faced a violent attack when a man attempted to stab him onstage at a campaign event in July.
The House sergeant-at-arms launched an initiative to provide House members with a $10,000 budget for members to ramp up security systems at their homes in July.
