An Atlanta man who threatened to murder far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has pleaded guilty to making interstate threats.
Sean Patrick Cirillo, 34, faces up to five years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for November 7.
On November 8, 2023, Cirillo called the Republican congresswoman’s Washington DC office and told staff that he had “a bead on her like a sniper rifle” and was “gonna kill her next week.”
“I’m gonna murder her,” he said over the phone, according to court records. “I’ll kill you too if you want.”
He threatened to “shoot her in the f****** head” and repeatedly shouted “die” at the congresswoman’s staff.
“Threatening to kill a public official is reprehensible,” US Attorney Ryan K Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia said in a statement on Tuesday. “Our office will not tolerate any form of violence, threats or intimidation against public officials,” he added. “The prosecution of individuals who threaten the lives and welfare of public servants is a top priority for our office, as well as for our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.”
Keri Farley, Atlanta’s FBI special agent in charge, said the agency “will not normalize violent threats in America, whether targeting elected officials or average citizens.”
“Our democracy depends on the ability of members of Congress to do their jobs without fearing for their safety. We will continue to prosecute threats against public servants made in any form,” she added.
The Independent has requested comment from Greene’s office.
When Greenes’s staff members asked where Cirillo was calling from, he said: “I’m calling from f*** yourself, you f****** c***t.”
He said “f*** your party,” told staffers that their “grandchildren are gonna f****** die,” and fired off a string of expletives
“You’re gonna die! Your family is gonna die! C***! You don’t think it’s gonna happen when you’re out of power?” he said, according to court filings.
In a second call that same day, he said “I’ll come kill your family.”
FBI agents visited his home the following day, when he admitted to making the calls to “get attention,” according to the criminal complaint against him.
His guilty plea — arriving two weeks after an apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump — follows a series of threats targeting public officials and years of warnings from federal law enforcement agencies about a heightened threat environment for political violence, largely coming from right-wing groups.
Last week, a man in Las Vegas was charged with threatening to kill federal officials, judges and state employees across several states. In March, a man from Ohio was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for threatening an Arizona election official.
Threats to officials running in 2020 and 2022 elections resulted in charges against roughly 20 people, according to the Department of Justice.
