Prosecutors said that Patrick Carlineo Jr. of New York made a phone call on March 21 to Omar’s Washington office.
Omar, an immigrant from Somalia, is one of the first Muslim women in Congress along with fellow first-term Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
According to a court filing by the Western District of New York against Carlineo, the accused identified himself during the call.
Phone records obtained by officials indicated that Carlineo made the call from New York.
Staff referred the threat to Capitol Police, who launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI. Carlineo was interviewed at his residence in Addison and asked if he knew why investigators were at his house.
Investigators informed him that lying to the FBI was a crime and that they had a recording of the call. He then said that he was angry and couldn’t remember exactly what he said.
Carlineo had multiple guns inside his house.
Prosecutors said that Carlineo appeared in court on April 5 and is being held pending a detention hearing on April 10. A mugshot for Carlineo was not made available.
In a statement, Omar said, “I’m thankful to the authorities who are investigating this case and grateful no one was hurt. As a nation, we must confront the alarming rise in violent extremism—and threats against religious minorities.”
Man Convicted of Threatening to Kill Obama, Waters
A New York man was convicted by a jury of threatening to kill former President Barack Obama.Stephen Taubert, 61, made death threats against Obama and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the Department of Justice said. The jury decision came on March 20 after a three-day trial.
Taubert on June 2, 2017, called the Washington office of then-Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and said that he was planning to travel to the nation’s capital to kill Obama at his house.
Taubert also unleashed a slew of “vile racial slurs” against Obama.
On July 20, 2018, Taubert called the Los Angeles district office of Waters and said that he would be at every event the Congresswoman attended.
He said he planned to kill Waters and every member of her staff and again used a number of racial slurs.
Taubert, who is slated to be sentenced on July 24, faces up to 20 years in prison.
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