A 25-year-old Duluth man has been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of leaving voicemails threatening sexual violence against two U.S. senators, Department of Justice officials announced Monday.
Authorities said Robert Davis Forney threatened Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his family via voicemail on Jan. 9 this year. The next day, he threatened Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska), according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Forney was arraigned Monday in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia and charged with communicating threats in interstate commerce. The case is being investigated by the FBI and U.S. Capitol Police, officials said.
“Targeting public officials with threatening messages is a serious federal crime,” FBI Atlanta Special Agent Paul Brown said in a news release. “There is no place for political violence or threats of violence in the United States. We will not hesitate to arrest and charge others who engage in similar criminal conduct.”
Threats against elected officials have drawn increased attention nationally after Saturday’s attack on state lawmakers in Minnesota, the latest in a string of political violence across the country.
A gunman fatally shot a Minnesota state representative and her husband. A state senator and his wife were also wounded in a separate attack by the same assailant, authorities said, and the suspect unsuccessfully targeted other lawmakers that day.
The suspect, Vance Boelter, was arrested Sunday night.
“Threatening our elected officials and their families is an act of violence that undermines our entire democracy,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in Monday’s statement. “Political discourse and disagreements never justify resorting to vile attacks against our nation’s leaders.”
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