A New York man who threatened to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has been sentenced to a year in prison.
Patrick W. Carlineo, Jr., who threatened to “put a bullet” in Omar was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on March 6.
In addition to the death threat, he was also convicted of possession of firearms that were legally prohibited due to a previous conviction of Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree in 1998.
The 56-year-old of Addison, New York, pleaded guilty to threatening Omar and being a felon in possession of firearms last November.
Chief U.S District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr., ordered Carlineo to “forfeit six firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
According to the Attorney’s Office, Carlineo called Omar’s office in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2019, at 12:20 p.m. and her staff answered the call.
Carlineo said during the call: “Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are you working for her, she’s a [expletive] terrorist. Somebody ought to put a bullet in her skull. Back in the day, our forefathers would have put a bullet in her [expletive] … I’ll put a bullet in her [expletive] skull,” the staff member recalled.
The call was immediately reported to the United States Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section and they began the investigation along with the FBI.
On April 5, investigators found a loaded handgun, three rifles, shotguns, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at Carlineo’s New York apartment.
Omar is a Member of the United States Congress from the 5th Congressional District in Minnesota. Carlineo made the call because he believed that she supports Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and considered her election to the United States Congress illegitimate, according to the Attorney’s Office.
After Carlineo pleaded guilty in November, Omar wrote a letter to the judge requesting “a system of compassion to be applied in his sentencing.”
The letter read: “Who are we as a nation if we respond to threats of political retribution with retribution ourselves? The answer to hate is not more hate; it is compassion.”
“Punishing the defendant with a lengthy prison sentence or a burdensome financial fine would not rehabilitate him. It would not repair the harm he has caused. It would only increase his anger and resentment.”