Prosecutors have indicted a Washington man, Mark Leonetti, on seven counts after he left a series of antisemitic, threatening voicemails threatening a number of Congress members. According to the newly unsealed document, the man had allegedly left more than 400 calls to different lawmakers’ offices.
Each one of the seven counts carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. According to a report by Punchbowl News, all of the alleged calls included both derogatory and antisemitic remarks as well as some death threats against lawmakers.
In one of the voicemails left on Oct. 26, Leonetti had allegedly said, “Jew’s mouth. Jew blood. We need to get you back to Israel so we can kill you there.”
In September, over the course of three days, Leonetti had also left 32 voicemails to a single senator. Many of the voicemails included threats.
Federal law enforcement that there has been an increase in threats faced by political leaders. The attacks and threats have also led to many asking for increased security for lawmakers.
In 2021, there were 9,625 cases opened by the Capitol Police’s Threat Assessment Team, while in 2020 there had been only 8,613 cases. With every year the number of cases appears to sharply increase.
