Coon Rapids man sentenced for threatening senator

Emily Baude KSTP

A Coon Rapids man has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for making threats against a United States senator, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger.

Prosecutors say 35-year-old Brendon Michael Daugherty left two voicemails on a U.S. senator’s phone in June of 2022 in which he said, “You and the Republican Party should be proud that you’re pushing me to become a domestic terrorist. Have a nice [expletive] day; can’t wait to kill ya.”

Coming back in a second message, Daugherty said, “I also just wanted to note, thank God the Republican Party is against gun control laws because it would keep guns out of the hands of a person that was disabled and volatile like I am, but you guys are totally against that. So, I may actually get to carry out my nefarious goals.”

Daugherty pleaded guilty in November 2022 to one count of interstate transmission of a threat to injure the person of another. The senator that Daugherty threatened lives outside of Minnesota.

Judge Eric Tostrud sentenced Daugherty in U.S. District Court on Wednesday. In handing down the sentence, Judge Tostrud emphasized that threats directed at elected officials pose a “pernicious threat to our democratic institutions.”