A man named Brendan Hunt has allegedly threatened the lives of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On Monday, he was sentenced to 19 months in prison after being found guilty of one count of threatening to assault or murder US officials.
“We will not tolerate threats to members of the United States Congress or calls to overthrow our democratically elected government.” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement.
In a Facebook account registered to Brendan Hunt, the prosecutor said that Brendan Hunt, who is the son of a retired New York City family court judge, John Hunt had posted a praise in December for people who have fought back against Covid-19 mitigation protocols. He was also said to have praised violence against police but also said people should instead “go after high-value targets” like Pelosi, Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez.
In court, prosecutors also said that Brendan Hunt had posted videos of himself at his apartment in Queens in January talking about the January 6 riot at the U.S capitol building, threatening to kill senators and encouraging others to visit the capitol building on the day of inauguration.
“Not only will we investigate and vigorously prosecute these crimes, but today’s sentence sends a clear message that those who seek to harm our representatives and bring chaos to our democracy will be punished.” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said.
