According to federal court filings, a Michigan man has been detained and
accused of threatening to assassinate a Democratic U.S. representative and the FBI director.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., received a phone message from Genesee County resident Neil Matthew Walter on
November 3 that included the phrase "Hey John. According to an FBI document,
John told him, "You're going to die. The paper claims that Walter also said in a comment on
a livestream video of FBI Director Christopher Wray on Saturday that he would kill Wray.
According to the complaint, Walter is accused of transmitting a communication containing a threat to harm another person in interstate commerce on one count.
For years, threats against MPs have increased. The U.S. Capitol Police reported that they looked into 3,939 complaints in 2017,
including those involving direct threats and worrisome words or deeds. That number was 9,625 in 2021.