Man charged with threat to murder Muslim U.S. Representative

NEW YORK (Reuters): A 55-year-old New York man has been arrested and charged with threatening to murder Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a freshman U.S. Congress member from Minnesota who is a Muslim, federal prosecutors said.

Patrick Carlineo Jr. of Addison, New York, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday in a statement.

According to prosecutors, Carlineo spoke by telephone with one of Omar’s staff members on March 21 and asked the employee: “Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are you working for her, she’s a (expletive) terrorist. I’ll put a bullet in her (expletive) skull.”

The threat was referred to the U.S. Capitol Police who launched a probe in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department said.

Carlineo made an initial court appearance on Friday and is being held pending a detention hearing on April 10.

Spokespeople for Omar, one of the two first Muslim women elected to Congress, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.