Rowland Edwin Dodge, Jr., a 62-year-old man from North Carolina was arrested after threatening to kill Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Dodge called the senator’s office last Wednesday, issuing the death threat to the senator over the issue of tax hike.
According to an article posted on the WBTV website, Dodge called the office of U.S. Senator Blumenthal on March 9 at around 12:10 p.m. The senator was not at his office during that time and an intern was the one who received the message.
The intern documented the call and reported that Dodge said:
“Tell Senator Blumenthal that if he raises my taxes one cent, just one penny, that I will kill that motherf*cker. I will shoot his motherf*cking brains out.”
Dodge then hung up when the intern asked for the name and zip code of the caller. As mentioned on the RawStory website, the intern contacted the U.S. Capitol Police to report the death threat.
The FBI was able to trace the call and identified the caller. FBI agents found Dodge at his home in Matthews, North Carolina just a day after he called the office of Senator Blumenthal. He confessed that he had issued the death threat.
Authorities served a warrant of arrest to Dodge for committing a federal crime. The warrant of arrest was for threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a U.S. official.
Dodge was booked at the Mecklenburg County jail on Tuesday, and has been released awaiting trial.
Dodge probably didn’t realize the gravity of his offense. What may have seemed to be an idle threat and desperate attempt to express personal indignation turned out to be a federal crime.
Under federal law, Dodge may be imprisoned for up to six years even if he was not serious or capable of carrying out the threat.
