A federal jury has convicted a Kansas man who admitted he threatened to kill a congressman.
Rep. Jake LaTurner speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on gun violence on June 8, 2022 in Washington, DC.TOPEKA, Kan. — A federal jury convicted a Kansas man on Thursday after he admitted in court that he threatened to kill U.S. Rep.Chase Neill was found guilty after acting as his own attorney and questioning the congressman on the witness stand.
Representing himself in court, Neill admitted that he left that message and others with more death threats the next day. But he told jurors that he was merely the messenger, telling LaTurner and other officials that they faced death by an act of God, such as a tornado or hurricane, for attacking God’s creation.
He is charged with a single count of threatening a U.S. government official, punishable by 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The jury must decide whether his June 5 voicemail represents a true threat and whether Neill intended to intimidate LaTurner or interefere with LaTurner’s work as a congressman.“You cannot cloak yourself in religious belief and justify such a threat,” federal prosecutor Stephen Hunting said in his closing remarks. “There is a line you cannot cross.
Republican state Rep. Tatum Lee, was quoted as saying, “The war is real you all. We are fighting for the soul of our nation.”In court Thursday, Neill told jurors he values hiis soul and was required by God to act when he “heard the sound of the trumpet.”
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