The Justice Department said a former Maryland state employee was federally charged for allegedly threatening to kill a member of Congress from Texas.
According to a court filing unsealed Wednesday, the agency said in a news release that 39-year-old Justin Kuchta is charged with one count of interstate communication containing a threat to injure.
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Kuchta allegedly sent a message on July 18 through an event management website threatening to kill a Congressmember whose district office is in Texas.
In the alleged obscenity-filled messages, Kuchta is accused of saying, “I’m coming to murder all of you" and that the fat fake Congressmember “will be the first on the gallows," according to the affidavit.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Maryland said the lawmaker's Washington office reported receiving a similar message on July 22.
The name of the Congressmember was not listed in the press release.
The threatening message also referenced the member of Congress to the Zodiac killer.
According to the Washington Post, a conspiracy theory has falsely claimed Cruz is the 1960s California serial killer.
The affidavit said investigators found that the IP address used to send the threatening messages was registered to a private, high-speed network operated by the state of Maryland. According to the affidavit, this then led them to a computer assigned to Kuchta.
According to the affidavit, the Associated Press reported that Kuchta was interviewed at his place of employment by agents with the U.S. Capitol Police, where he allegedly admitted to sending the threatening messages.
Federal prosecutors said he faces a maximum of five years in prison if he's convicted.
