A Texas man was arrested for threatening to chop off the head of a Trump administration staffer and kill their family - with the persistent suspect continuing to leave voicemails after the feds told him to stop.
Thomas Austria Crouse, of Austin, is facing up to five years in prison if convicted. The identity of the victim was not shared by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas, which announced the charges.
The FBI, Secret Service, and Capitol Police are investigating the case, which began on the night of August 25 with an alarming phone call.
According to a criminal complaint, Crouse called the "personal phone of an individual working for the President of the United States" and left a voicemail. It was not immediately clear how Crouse got the person's cell number.
Crouse "allegedly threatened to find the administration official, decapitate them, and kill the victim’s family," a Justice Department said.
"Given the violent nature of the voicemail and the references to the victim’s job as a presidential staffer, the voicemail was reported to the FBI. The criminal complaint alleges that further investigation revealed the phone call came from Austin. Crouse was identified as the caller."
The following day, Crouse agreed to stop making threats during an interview with the FBI, but the pledge lasted only a few hours.
The suspect instead continued to leave five additional voicemails for the victim, telling them to commit suicide.
On August 27, the feds arrested Crouse "based on a criminal complaint accusing him of transmitting an interstate communication containing a threat to injure the person of another."
Was the target a member of Trump's Cabinet? Or someone less well-known?
We do not have many details, but we do know that the incendiary climate being stirred up by the left exposes anyone tangentially connected to Trump to danger - including rank-and-file ICE agents who have come under violent attack for just doing their jobs.
Trump, of course, continues to face constant threats that have been encouraged by years of hyperbole comparing him to a dictator.
While the Justice Department is taking these threats seriously, the same, sadly, cannot be said of our deeply compromised judiciary.
Judge James Boasberg - the notorious Obama judge who tried to hold Trump officials in contempt for ignoring his arbitrary demands to stop deportation flights - has just released a woman from federal custody who had threatened to kill Trump.
The suspect in that case, Nathalie Jones, is a self-described schizophrenic who blames Trump for the death toll from COVID - a belief that was likely encouraged by the hysterical, leftist media.
The Justice Department urged the courts to keep Jones in jail, noting her "brazen decision to drive to Washington, DC, the day after telling law enforcement she would take the POTUS's life", but Boasberg found she is not a danger to the public and let her go, pending trial.
