House

Indiana man charged with felony after allegedly threatening Jim Banks

FILE - Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., right, speaks as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., listens during a news conference on the House Jan. 6 Committee, on June 9, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Banks, a combative defender of former President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, launched a campaign for the U.S. Senate seat from Indiana being given up by fellow Republican Mike Braun.

An Indiana man was charged on Friday after allegedly threatening Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and his family, court documents show.

Aaron Thompson, 33, was charged with harassment and intimidation, a felony offense in the state, after he allegedly left several threatening voicemails with the congressman’s office in early April, according to a probable cause filing.

“Here’s the choice. Your daughters grow up without their dad. Or you grow old without your daughters. How you like that? Let me know what your opinion is. I’ll make the decision,” Thompson allegedly said in an April 11 voicemail.

He also reportedly said in separate voicemails that he hoped Banks would die in a car crash and “get your brains blown out.”

Capitol Police say Thompson told them that he was intoxicated at the time and left the voicemails for Banks because “he disagrees with him politically.”

“The safety of my family is my top priority,” Banks said in a statement. “I’ve been instructed to refer all questions about the ongoing criminal investigation to the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office.”