‘Hate Talk Has Consequences’: Congressman Who Received Death Threat From Conspiracy Theorist Asks All Americans to ‘Tone it Down’

Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) spoke Wednesday about the recent death threat he received earlier in the month, which resulted in the recent arrest of a Michigan man.

“We are ramping up our personal security and all of us are paying attention to situational awareness. Where are we? What kind of bloating are we headed? What’s happening as we get out of our cars and so forth? So all of us are paying much, much closer attention,” said the California Democrat in an interview posted by the Hill.

“But we also know that we cannot be safe from everything. And I would just ask all of you, all of Americans, wherever they happen to be, Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal or progressive, whatever, to tone it down, be aware that the hate talk has consequences,” he concluded.

“John. Hey John. You’re gonna die John. You’re gonna die,” said Neil Matthew Walter in a voicemail left for the Congressman on Nov. 3 at 10:53 p.m., according to court documents.

Walter was arrested for threatening to kill Garamendi as well as the director of the FBI. Court documents detailed Walter’s social media activity, which included “Facebook posts that had numerous comments stating beliefs that half the Senators, the FBI, CIA, police, Tom Cruise, and Elon Musk are involved in a child slave rape ring,” reported NBC News’s Ryan J. Reilly on Tuesday.

“The voicemail marks the latest threat in what law enforcement agencies say is a significant rise in threats against lawmakers. The FBI and other agencies have increasingly warned of a rise in violent extremism focused on political leaders and government institutions,” noted the Hill in its report on Walters’s arrest, which comes weeks after a man attacked Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband while looking to harm her.

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