A Minneapolis man is accused of leaving a voicemail threatening to kill a member of Congress, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.
Michael Paul Lewis, 52, was detained by federal agents and indicted on a charge of threatening to murder a United States official after the phone message was discovered on March 26.
The identity of the member of Congress was not immediately available, but a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office referenced the voicemail was left for a woman.
Lewis made his first court appearance Friday in the U.S. District Court and will remain in custody until an arraignment and detention hearing on April 23.
“Federal law protects our elected officials from this sort of violent, unhinged, and murderous rhetoric,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a prepared statement. “It is entirely unacceptable. Defendants who attempt to terrorize public officials in this way will face the full weight of federal justice.”
Threats against lawmakers, including violent messages or behavior, have remained a persistent concern among Minnesota’s congressional delegation and beyond.
In 2023, a man was indicted on charges of arson and damage to religious property after being accused of starting fires at two Minneapolis mosques and vandalizing Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s congressional office nearby. Before that, two men in separate cases pleaded guilty to threatening to kill her.
Before the 2020 election, a bomb threat forced the evacuation of Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig’s office in Burnsville.
