A constituent of Representative Scott Taylor (R., Va.) was arrested Friday for threatening to murder the congressman, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a statement.
Wallace Grove Godwin, 69, came to Taylor’s office on Thursday and threatened to shoot him at a planned event on Saturday.
“Scott is having an event this Saturday. I am going to get my shotgun and do something about this. I will just handle this myself,” Godwin reportedly told one of Taylor’s staffers after getting into a heated discussion about marijuana policy.
“You two are next,” he said, pointing to two staffers, according to authorities.
Godwin also visited Taylor’s home last year and aggressively confronted him outside.
The Virginia Beach man will appear in federal court in Norfolk, Va. on Friday afternoon. He faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.
Several recent incidents where lawmakers were threatened have sparked calls for a greater security presence on Capitol Hill.
Last year, a deranged gunman targeting Republicans shot House majority whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., sending him to the hospital in serious condition and in need of surgery. And in November, Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) was assaulted by his neighbor, landing in the hospital with several fractured ribs.