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Michigan Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Rep. John Garamendi Over ‘Child Slave Ring’ Conspiracy Theory

Michigan Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Rep. John Garamendi Over ‘Child Slave Ring’ Conspiracy Theory

Yet more news of death threats against lawmakers over wackadoodle QAnon conjecture, this time with NorCal congressman John Garamendi and FBI Director Christopher Wray on the receiving end of the threats.

The death threats inspired by QAnon horseshit are getting to be pretty much everyday news these days — whether it’s the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, bomb threats against children’s hospitals, or threats to blow up LGBTQ nonprofits. Apparently another one went down under the radar in recent weeks. CNN reports on fresh charges against a Michigan man for threatening to kill Rep. John Garamendi and FBI Director Christopher Wray, over — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — “beliefs that a child slave ring was being held in the US Capitol.”

John Garamandi, if the name sounds familiar, is the current U.S Congressional representative of the Fairfield-Suisun City area, and was previously Lieutenant Governor during the Arnold Schwarzenegger era. He’s been in Congress since 2009, and is a Democrat, therefore the Republican fringe automatically assumes he is running some sort of child-sex ring in the back of a pizza parlor.

In an incident reported November 4, Michigan man Neil Matthew Walter allegedly left Garamendi’s office a voicemail threatening, “John. Hey John. You’re gonna die John. You’re gonna die.” Similarly, he allegedly sent FBI director Wray the message “I will kill you director Wray you will die I will kill you in self-defense.”

So law enforcement sends an officer by Walter’s home to do a wellness check, which does not go well. Walter allegedly pulls out a handgun and goes on a diatribe about (as quoted by CNN) “kids being raped, a lawsuit with Putin, and how he is calling everyone all the time, but no one is doing anything about the kids.”

CNN also adds that “Facebook posts on Walter’s accounts cited in the affidavit contained similar rants about danger to children, including beliefs that a child slave ring was being held in the US Capitol.”

Garamendi put out a statement Tuesday saying, “I thank Capitol Police and FBI for quickly addressing this threat.” Meanwhile, Walter is charged with one count of transmitting in interstate commerce a communication containing a threat to injury.

Related: Trial Underway for Guy Who Allegedly Threatened to Kill Scott Wiener Over Vaccine Legislation [SFist]

Image: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District via Wikimedia Commons

Joe Kukura

Joe Kukura

Joe Kukura is an SFist staff asst. editor / reporter who has been published in almost every San Francisco publication, including Hoodline, SF Weekly, Thrillist, and Broke Ass Stuart.

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Michigan Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Rep. John Garamendi Over ‘Child Slave Ring’ Conspiracy Theory
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