Man arrested for allegedly leaving hundreds of threatening voicemails for Congress members

LONGVIEW, Wash. (KOMO) — A man from Washington state is facing charges after allegedly leaving hundreds of threatening voicemails for members of Congress.

Making horrific and graphic threats to harm is always unacceptable, and we must always take threats of political violence seriously,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.

Mark Leonetti of Longview was arrested Wednesday morning on a criminal complaint charging him with seven counts of making interstate threats, according to Brown. Leonetti appeared in U.S. District Court in Tacoma Wednesday as well.

A criminal report states that Leonetti left more than 400 voicemails for Congress members over the span of two years.

He was warned to discontinue his behavior several times by law enforcement and mental health professionals, according to the Department of Justice, but he continued the behavior.

In early September 2022, he left threatening voicemails in the voicemail box of a congresswoman. Emergency mental health professionals again contacted Leonetti after those calls. In late September and October 2022, Leonetti left additional threatening voicemails for a different senator and a congressman. The most recent voicemails were left on December 5, 2022,” a press release from the DOJ said.

Officials said the threats used slurs and contained bizarre statements about “murder” and “killing” individuals. Making interstate threats is punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

The case is being investigated by the FBI with assistance from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Longview Police Department.