A Montana man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for threatening Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in voicemails to his office.
Kevin Patrick Smith pleaded guilty to making threats against a senator in April.
According to investigators, Smith called Tester’s office multiple times in 2022, and in one day left five voicemails where he called the senator a pedophile, threatened to kill him and made fun of the FBI.
“I want you to understand something very, very clearly,” he said in one voicemail. “You stand toe to toe with me. I rip your head off. You die.”
“You can send your f—ing decrepit FBI. I don’t care,” he continued. “Call that a threat. Then the FBI. Send your little decrepit pieces of shit my way.”
Capitol Police identified Smith, and Tester was assigned additional security at his Montana residence and district office until police could speak to the man.
He told federal investigators he disagreed with Tester’s politics, and the calls were meant to encourage Tester to change his views.
After being interviewed by police, Smith continued to call Tester’s local district office “several times a day,” according to investigators. Those calls also contained violent threats including threatening to shoot the senator.
Smith was arrested in February and has remained in custody since.