PA Man Admits Threatening To Kill Member Of Congress
Prosecutors said Joshua Hall called Rep. Eric Swalwell's office from Yonkers and told staff members he planned to harm the congressman.
YONKERS, NY — A Pennsylvania man who was accused of making phone calls threatening a sitting congressman pleaded guilty in court Friday.
Damian Williams, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Joshua Hall, 22, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democratic member of Congress from California.
Hall had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud for impersonating family members of former President Donald Trump on social media to fraudulently raise funds for a fictitious political organization.
At the time he made the threats to Swalwell, Hall was on pretrial release pending sentencing for the fraud scheme.
He was arrested the same day the threats were made and was subsequently ordered detained pending sentencing.
Williams said Hall made terrifying threats to the staff of a U.S. congressman whom he disliked, rather than attempting to effect change through any of the freedoms of expression that all Americans enjoy.
“These threats of violence endanger our public officials and thwart common decency,” he said, “which is why this office will continue to prosecute crimes like those committed by Joshua Hall.”
According to prosecutors, on Aug. 29, Hall placed a series of telephone calls from in or around Yonkers to the California office of a member of the U.S. Congress. During those calls, he conveyed threats to kill Swalwell to at least three different members of his staff.
During a call with two of the staffers, Hall said he had a lot of AR-15s and that he wanted to shoot Swalwell. He also said he intended to come to the congressman’s office with firearms and, if he saw Swalwell, he would kill him.
In addition, Hall said he wanted to “beat the s*** out of” Swalwell and that he would find him wherever he was and hurt him, prosecutors said.
On a call with the third staffer, Hall said he intended to come to Swalwell’s office to kill him with firearms.
Hall pleaded guilty to one count of making interstate communications with a threat to injure, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Hall is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8.
http://patch.com/new-york/bronxville/pa-man-admits-threatening-kill-member-congress
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