A Nevada man has been charged and accused of leaving a series of antisemitic, profanity-laced voicemails at the office of Jewish Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), NBC News reported on Monday.
John Anthony Miller, of Las Vegas, was arrested Thursday and appeared in federal court Friday in connection with one count of threatening a federal official, the Justice Department said in a news release. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 13.
Court documents said Miller, 43, left a series of threatening and antisemitic voicemails at a Nevada senator's office this month that referred to Israel, Palestinian Arabs and Judea and Samaria.
According to court documents, one voicemail tied to Miller’s phone number referred to finishing “what Hitler started.”
While the documents do not name the senator, Rosen's office confirmed Monday that the threats were directed against her.
Asked about the threats, Rosen told reporters on Capitol Hill, "I have full faith in our US attorney, Department of Justice that they’ll take care of the situation.”
An FBI agent said in court documents that he had also reviewed another voicemail left at the senator’s office last week from an unidentified number that matched Miller’s voice and speech pattern. In that message, the caller threatened the senator’s family.
Rosen discussed the increase in antisemitism the US on Monday, telling reporters, “This is what Jews all around the world are facing.”
Rosen was one of the senators who submitted a bipartisan resolution passed by the Senate last week which denounced antisemitism at higher education institutions.
The resolution was approved amid a sharp rise in incidents of antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
On Sunday, Jewish students at Cornell University were advised to avoid the kosher dining hall at the university after threats were directed at the school’s Jewish students.
Last Wednesday, Jewish students at Cooper Union College in New York City were forced to lock themselves inside the library as a mob of anti-Israeli protesters blocked the doors.
About 40 minutes later, security escorted the students out of the building via a tunnel.
Earlier this month, alumni of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School launched an online petition in which they urge the Dean of the Law School to make a statement against the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel and be a voice of morality.
At Columbia University, an Israeli American professor blasted his employer in a fiery speech on campus, in which he ripped the university and its president for not publicly denouncing pro-Palestinian Arab student organizations.