The Feds arrested a Marine Park man for threatening to kill a United States senator in a hostile message he left on the answering machine of her district-office phone.
Michael Brogan, 51, allegedly threatened to “put a bullet in” the unidentified legislator — who does not represent New York State, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York — the next time he was in Washington, DC, after watching a video of her criticizing President Trump on Dec. 4, according to documents released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“You watch your a– cause I [unintelligible], I’m going to put a bullet in ya. When I’m in D.C. and you’re there, I got your f—— mark you stupid b—-,” Brogan allegedly said in the message.
The spokesman declined to reveal the pol’s identity, however, due to her being the victim of the crime.
Brogan told investigators that the video he watched, in which the senator touted her pro-choice platform and criticized Trump, made him “very angry,” according to court documents.
“You and your constant lambasting of President Trump. I’m cursing and I’m in sin because of people like you, ok? Cause I value the God given right to life,” he allegedly said in the message. “You should thank our lord and savior Jesus Christ that you are alive. But instead, reproductive rights, reproductive rights … if I see you on the streets, I’m gonna f—— light you up with f—— bullets.”
Brogan attended the anti-abortion “March for Life” in the nation’s capital in January of 2017 and 2018, according to posts on his Facebook account, which also notes he formerly worked as a legislative IT specialist for Council.
“On the charter bus with St. Francis DeSales parish of Belle Harbour to March for Life 2018 in Washington DC. Will this be the year?” he wrote in one of the posts.
Special agents with the Capitol Police traced the threatening message back to Brogan through phone-company records and his social-media posts, and cuffed him on Dec. 12 after showing up at his Marine Park home with a search warrant.
The agents then brought Brogan in for questioning, where he waived his right to an attorney and admitted to calling the senator, but said that he couldn’t remember what he had said in the message, according to court documents.
Officials released him that day on a $50,000 bond, but he remains under house arrest and must wear an ankle monitor, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Following his arrest and release, the defendant told the New York Daily News that he regretted making the phone call. But he also played down the incident, claiming it was not a big deal, and dismissing comparisons to the former Brooklynite and self-proclaimed Trump supporter whom the Feds in October cuffed for allegedly mailing more than dozen homemade bombs to politicians and news organizations criticized by the president.
“Not to trivialize it, I wish in retrospect I didn’t do it, but I don’t think it’s that big,” Brogan said.
He added that he wouldn’t have left the message if he had known that there would be consequences for his actions, which he ultimately apologized for, according to the Daily News report.
“I didn’t think it was going to come to this,” Brogan said. “I reacted the wrong way and I made a call, I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.”
Officials have yet to set a date for Brogan to return to court, because he hasn’t been indicted, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s spokesman.
He did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by this newspaper.
