Montana man Richard Rogers was convicted of threatening former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R–Bakersfield) after expressing anger about a Chinese spy balloon floating over his city in Billings.
Rogers delivered threats to McCarthy’s office during multiple phone calls, including making harassing calls to McCarthy’s office and the FBI tip line in 2021 and 2022, where he routinely used vulgar and obscene language.
The big picture: The federal jury found Rogers guilty on three counts – threatening to harm a member of Congress and two counts of making harassing telephone calls.
- Rogers faces a potential sentence of up to six years in prison and a fine for threatening a member of Congress, as well as a separate penalty for the harassment counts.
- While awaiting sentencing on January 31, U.S. District Judge Susan Watters allowed Rogers to remain free without custody.
- Rogers, during his trial, argued that his calls were a form of civil disobedience and protected under the First Amendment, while the prosecutors maintained that his behavior crossed the line with threats and verbal abuse.
- Despite his guilty verdict, Rogers maintains that he never threatened anyone and expressed dissatisfaction with his defense attorneys for not adequately presenting his case.
