A Montana man was convicted after making dozens of threatening phone calls against the House speaker.
Richard Rogers, 45, made more than 100 threatening calls to then-President Kevin McCarthy’s office after the U.S. government shot down a Chinese balloon over Montana.
On Wednesday, a federal jury found Rogers guilty of threatening to assault McCarthy as well as two counts of making harassing phone calls.
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Richard Rogers and his wife Laurie are seen outside the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in Billings, Montana. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Rogers made more than 100 calls to McCarthy’s office in just 75 minutes on Feb. 3 last year, prosecutors said.
He also made more than 150 calls to the FBI tip line between 2021 and 2022.
Authorities say his calls were often filled with vulgar and offensive statements, as well as physical threats.
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“You can’t talk to people that way. It’s common sense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Godfrey said. “He doesn’t call out of political protest; he calls because he likes it.”
Rogers argued in court that his dozens of calls to McCarthy’s office — inspired by the China ball but commenting on everything from the FBI to President Biden — were a form of “civil disobedience.”
Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy speaks to the audience at an event awarding House Clerk Cheryl L. Johnson the 2023 Freedom Award. (Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“They disrespected me, so I disrespected them,” Rogers said of his abusive language used against congressional staff and receptionists.
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Rogers is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 31.
He faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $250,000 fine for threatening to harm a member of Congress.
For harassment, he faces up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
