NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man threatened to kill two U.S. senators for supporting Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, federal prosecutors said.
Ronald Derisi, 74, of Smithtown, was charged Friday with threatening federal officials. He was scheduled to appear Friday at a federal court on Long Island.
Officials declined to name the senators who received the threatening messages.
A call to Derisi’s residence seeking comment rang unanswered. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
Prosecutors said Derisi began leaving the voicemails Sept. 27, the day Kavanaugh appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and denied sexually assaulting California psychologist Christine Blasey Ford.
In the first voicemail, Derisi did not identify himself but claimed to have a “present” for the senator, according to a criminal complaint.
“It’s a 9 mm,” he said, according to the complaint.
U.S. Capitol Police said Derisi left 10 voicemails for another unnamed senator beginning Oct. 6, the day Kavanaugh was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
In one of those messages, police said, Derisi referred to Kavanaugh as a sex offender and warned, “I’m gonna get you,” according to the criminal complaint.
Derisi made the calls from a pre-paid cellphone that authorities traced to Deris’ debit card, prosecutors said.
Investigators used cellphone records and “location information” from a phone provider to determine the calls were placed in the vicinity of Derisi’s home in Suffolk County, according to the criminal complaint.
Derisi previously pleaded guilty to making other harassing calls in a case that involved at least 15 calls he placed to a victim’s home and office, according to the complaint.
Earlier this month, Capitol Police charged a former congressional Democratic staffer with entering a Senate office without authorization and publishing the “restricted personal information” of several senators, including their cellphones numbers.
