Man Who Threatened Rep. Maxine Waters Gets 6 Months House Arrest

A California man who left a voicemail for Rep. Maxine Waters threatening to kill her was sentenced to six months of house arrest. Anthony Scott Lloyd, 45, pleaded guilty in April to a felony charge of threatening a U.S. government official. He faced up to 10 years in prison, but a federal court judge on Monday handed him down three years of probation and 100 hours of community service in addition to his home detention. Waters previously wrote a letter suggesting that a mild sentence would send a message to would-be perpetrators that they could escape the full consequences of threatening members of Congress. “Given the political climate of our country in which passions are inflamed across the political spectrum, I believe we must have effective deterrents within the legal system to discourage threats of violence and intimidation against elected officials,” Waters wrote. Lloyd made the threatening phone call to Waters’ office after hearing her disparage President Donald Trump on talk radio. “If you continue to make threats toward the president, you’re going to wind up dead, Maxine, ’cause we’ll kill you,” he said, according to FBI investigators. The threat led Waters’ staff to notify Capitol Police, who work in tandem with the FBI on such cases. In an affidavit, Lloyd admitted making the call but said he never planned to actually hurt Waters. The episode with Lloyd took place before Waters caused a stir by urging her supporters at a rally in June to continue protesting Trump administration officials in public and refusing to let them be served at local businesses. Waters was forced to cancel two events, one in Alabama and another in Texas, after she received death threats from people in each state over those comments. Watch: Schumer Decries Harassment of Trump Administration Officials Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.