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Florida man arrested for threatening to kill members of Congress if Kavanaugh not confirmed

Posted at 3:09 PM, Oct 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-05 05:37:58-04

Deputies arrested a Florida man after he threatened on Facebook to kill members of Congress and their families if Brett Kavanaugh wasn't confirmed to the Supreme Court. 

James Patrick, 53, of Winter Haven, Fla., was arrested Thursday by the Polk County Sheriff's Office after they received tips about his threatening posts. 

"Within five hours of receiving an email tip about the posts, our detectives investigated it, obtained an arrest warrant and search warrant, and took the suspect into custody without incident," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. "People need to calm down, and stop making threats of violence - we will not tolerate it. Anyone who threatens to shoot or kill any public servant or law enforcement officer will go to jail immediately." 

Along with threatening members of Congress, Patrick threatened to shoot any local or federal law enforcement that tried to stop him — alongside a picture of a bullet. 

Patrick has numerous other threats, along with pictures of guns on his Facebook. He posted about selling his home and his car, along with having someone look after his dogs so he could carry out his 'plan.' 

He was charged with writing a threat to kill or injure, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Patrick's bail has been set at $500,000 according to the sheriff's office website.