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Man charged in Grand Rapids with threatening Georgia congressman

Posted at 8:52 PM, Jul 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-21 22:23:48-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man is facing a federal charge for allegedly making a threatening call from West Michigan to a Georgia congressman after he proposed a gun control bill.

On or around June 29, 2020 in Van Buren County, Martin Dale Osborn allegedly left Henry Johnson, the representative for Georgia’s 4th congressional district, a voicemail referring to the bill as “your little bill for gun control and ammunition and all that stuff,” and said, “[Y]ou Democrats go ahead and keep on playing around and get a civil war going in this country,” according to an indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division.

The voicemail also said, “Do you remember the Romans? What happened there when they had enough? Yeah, they killed their politicians and the lawyers. Keep pushing it boy.

"One day you are going to see me. It’ll be about two o'clock in the morning. I'll be at your bedside and all you're going to see is me knocking the living sh-- out of you. You stupid arrogant little piece of sh--. Terrified? You should be. Stop with the bullsh--, boy.”

Osborn is being charged with threatening a federal official, a felony.

He pled not guilty during the case's arraignment yesterday in Grand Rapids.

Johnson’s gun control bill raises the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21 years old and adds more background check requirements.

Among other things, it also places restrictions on the manufacture, sale, purchase and possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and guns without serial numbers.