Death Threat Against CT Senator Blumenthal Leads to Man's Arrest

A North Carolina man is facing a federal charge of threatening to shoot and kill U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a long-time Greenwich resident.

According to reports, the 62-year-old suspect called Blumenthal's office at the Capitol in Washington, DC on March 9 shortly after noon. An intern took a telephone call and when told that Blumenthal was unavailable, the suspect reportedly replied, "Tell Senator Blumenthal that if he raises my taxes one cent, just one penny, that I will kill that mother [expletive]. I will shoot his mother [expletive] brains out."

Sixty-two-year-old Rowland Edwin Dodge Jr. of Mathews, NC reportedly hung up when the intern tried to get his name and zip code, according to WBTV.com.

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Fox 46 in Charlotte, NC reports that the intern reported the incident to U.S. Capitol Police who in turn contacted the FBI who tracked phone records and identified the call having been made from Dodge's home. When the FBI went to Dodge's home on March 10, he reportedly told investigators he didn't remember whether he called the office of Blumenthal, 70.

However, investigators determined Dodge was the only one in his home when the call was made.

Dodge was arrested March 15 on a federal charge of threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a United States official, after investigators obtained an arrest warrant.

The WBTV.com story can be found here.

The Fox 46 story can be found here.

Photo from the Mecklenburg County (NC) Sheriff's Office.