'Veteran sniper': N.H. man accused of terrorizing senator for 'blocking military promotions'

Brian Landry of New Hampshire has been "charged with threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a United States official," after terrorizing a U.S. senator via voicemail last month, The New York Times reports.

Per The Times, after hearing a U.S. senator "was blocking military promotions," the 66-year-old said in a voicemail to the lawmaker, "Hey stupid, I'm a veteran sniper. Unless you change your ways, I got my scope pointed in your direction and I’m coming to get you. You're a dead man walking."

The Times reports:

Elected officials, politicians and their families have faced a rise in threats over the past few years as violent political speech has become more prevalent. Such threats made in voice mail messages and via social media have sometimes become more concrete, as was the case last June, when a man, who was armed with a pistol, a knife and other weapons, said that he traveled to the home of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh intending to kill the Supreme Court justice. In October, a man broke into the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco and struck her husband with a hammer, fracturing his skull.

The veteran told investigators he felt "extremely angry with certain politicians over their handling of important entitlement programs for veterans."

The Times reported that court records didn't name the Landry's apparent target.

Furthermore, NBC News reports, "After investigators informed him about the contents of the voicemail, Landry 'acknowledged he may have said those things, but denied any intentions or desire to commit violence' against the unnamed senator or anyone else."

According to The Times, Landry "is set to appear in the U.S. District Court in New Hampshire on July 12, according to court documents," and "could face penalties including up to 10 years in prison, along with three years of supervised release, and a fine of as much as $250,000."