Recently, a man from Kalispell, Montana was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for threatening the life of Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
Kevin Patrick Smith had called Tester’s office on Jan. 30 and challenged him to contact the FBI about him while making explicit threats towards the senator over the phone call.
The sentence that Smith received was part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office in the state and is lower than what others have received for similar offenses in the past.
Smith left 60 voicemails with Tester’s constituency office where he made explicit threats including “I would love to fucking kill you” and said that if there were a physical altercation between them, “you die.”
Senior U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled that one count of the indictment against Smith be dropped which resulted in his two-and-a-half year sentence instead of 10 years which is what he could have faced along with a fine of up to $250,000 as per court documents obtained by Associated Press (AP).
Threats against high ranking politicians are not uncommon; Former President Donald Trump was subject to tens of thousands of assassination threats during his term according to Mashable.
Meanwhile Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been receiving frequent death threats ever since his confirmation process.
Further, Republican Senator Susan Collins’ staff members were harassed after she voted to confirm Kavanaugh’s nomination with one caller expressing hope that her staff is “raped and impregnated,” according to Newsweek.
Tester has been serving as senator from Montana since 2007 and is now running for reelection for his fourth term in 2024 despite being challenged by Republican candidate Tim Sheehy while former rival Matt Rosendale has suggested that he may run again too this time around.
