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College Park, Maryland (AP) —A man threatening to kill a Maryland parliamentarian on the grounds of a Republican unfounded presidential election allegation sentenced him to eight consecutive weeks in prison and six months in prison on Thursday. Was sentenced.
Judge Richard Bennett of the US District Court also ordered Cedar Takumar Matur, 35, of West Friendship, Maryland, to provide 100 hours of community service. Matur threatened Andy Harris, the only Republican of the Maryland Parliamentary delegation, with voice and webmail messages.
Harris said the threat of murder against him and his family scared his wife and children and was “basically imprisoned” for fear of leaving the house.
“I’m in an elected office. I think this kind of threat can occur, especially in today’s toxic political environment. It’s certainly not right, but it threatens families and children. That’s especially wrong, “Harris said at a remote hearing on Thursday.
Matur apologized for his actions and told the judge that he wanted to be an “antidote to root dysfunction occurring in the outside world” and a “unity” for polarization.
Bennett ordered Matur to serve in the first prison for eight consecutive weekends beginning October 1.
“You have become part of a toxic environment, and it is totally unacceptable in civilized society,” the judge said.
The prosecutor and the defense lawyer jointly recommended a two-year probation sentence instead of imprisonment. Prosecutors also called on Matur to provide six months of house arrest and 100 hours of community service.
Matur was charged in December with threatening federal authorities. He pleaded guilty in June Make a false statement.
Harris was the only member of the legislature delegation to support former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election on the basis of unfounded allegations of fraudulent elections.
In December, Harris was one of 126 House Republicans with a brief signature in support of a Texas lawsuit attempting to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory. The US Supreme Court dismissed the proceedings.
In a message submitted through the Parliamentarians’ website on December 10, Matur threatened to kill him and blow up his office “in an attempt to steal my vote,” according to prosecutors.
“I know where you and your family live. You’re done,” he wrote, referring to MPs as “animals that need to be tortured alive and peeled.”
Matur submitted a message using his contact information and the addresses of his ex-neighbors and classmates, but prosecutors said investigators tracked threats to Matur’s home Internet service.
Approximately two minutes after sending the webmail message, Matur called the House of Representatives district office and threatened to cut his throat and kill his family “even if he ruined my vote,” prosecutors said. I left a voicemail message. Matur also mentioned Republicans who supported the Texas election proceedings. Investigators tracked calls to phone numbers registered under Matur’s name.
According to prosecutors, when an investigator at the US Capitol asked him at home on December 11, Mr. Matur left a threatening voicemail message “out of anger” and said no one would be hurt. But he mistakenly denied threatening webmail, the prosecutor said.
Matur did not have a criminal record prior to this incident.
“Sadly, all striped political violence poses a clear and present danger to public security and the functioning of our democracy,” the prosecutor wrote in a court filing. “Defendant’s actions have rejected the democracy and have shown a willingness to resort to the repeated violent threats that a legitimately elected representative takes when he acts in disagreement.”
Prosecutors have pleaded guilty to the actions of a Maryland man in February 2020 for threatening to kill Matur’s actions to kill a Florida Democrat who sponsored vaccination requirements for public school students. I compared. That defendant, Darryl Albert Burnham, Was sentenced to 6 months of house arrest.
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