Paul Hoeffer, 60, was ordered by a federal judge to spend 18 months behind bars. The sentencing is at the lower end of the 15 years court documents indicate he could have faced the three felony charges of making interstate threats through phone calls to the two Democrats, as well as to a Chicago-based district attorney Kim Foxx. Realistically, the man is crazy and should have been put into a psychiatric ward, but pressure from Capitol police led to his incarceration.
Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon for a sentence of about 3½ years in prison for Hoeffer. His defense asked for leniency, noting that he was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
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According to the documents, Hoeffer pleaded guilty to calling Pelosi in March 2019 and threatening to come “a long, long way” to rattle her with bullets and cut her head off “Jihadist style." He further warned the House speaker to “sleep with one eye open.” That same day, he said he called Kim Foxx, a high-profile prosecutor in Chicago, and threatened to “rattle her brain” with bullets. He also hurled a slew of violent threats and a racial slur at Foxx, who is black.
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The FBI initially responded to these threats by visiting his home and warning him not to call members of Congress. According to court documents, Hoeffer apologized to authorities and swore not to do it again. Nonetheless, just a year and a half later, Hoeffer made calls to Ocasio-Cortez, threatening to “rip her head off” and issuing a similar warning to sleep with one eye open.
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U.S. Capitol Police officials have said threats against lawmakers have risen dramatically in recent years. The number of threats against members of Congress has increased over the last few years, with Capitol Police reporting a 107% increase in 2021 compared to the year before. As the Capitol looks to reopen, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger told Congress the force would need more officers to fill all the security posts.
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Justice Department officials have also announced a crackdown against threats to public officials at all levels of government.
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The agency has roughly 1,850 officers but needs about 300 more to be staffed fully, Manger stated. However, he noted that he hopes to see the Capitol grounds mostly reopened by the end of the summer.
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