A Pennsylvania man was charged Thursday with two counts of threatening to assault, murder or kidnap a federal official, in this case Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.
Aaron Michael McComsey, 44, is accused of sending threatening messages to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s office on Aug. 4, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said Thursday.
The U.S. attorney’s office did not name Mr. Fitzpatrick, but the congressman confirmed he was the person threatened in a statement Saturday.
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Mr. McComsey is a resident of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, a town about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia that is part of the state’s 1st Congressional District, which Mr. Fitzpatrick represents.
The messages Mr. McComsey is accused of sending included “Aetna dropped me. Medicare doesn’t cover drugs. And Medicaid is refusing to pay. I go into withdrawal in 36 hours. After that time, [the official] is no more on this earth. Fix this or he goes bye-bye forever.
Mr. McComsey is also accused of saying in a message to Mr. Fitzpatrick’s office, “Just tell [the official] I want 6000 dollars for this month’s medication costs. He’s a millionaire. Let his ass pay for it. I’m so done. That man is finished.”
If convicted, Mr. McComsey faces up to 12 years in prison.
In his statement Saturday, Mr. Fitzpatrick said, “Threats of violence against anyone, under any circumstances, are never acceptable. There can be no ambiguity about that. Such allegations must be taken seriously, and the judicial process must be allowed to run its course. … We can unequivocally condemn threats of violence and uphold the law without losing sight of the humanity of those involved, the struggles they may be facing, and the families affected.”
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