“I will kill you personally old man”: Florida man admits plot to assassinate U.S. Senator in social media post
Florida – A Florida man has admitted to making a violent threat against a sitting U.S. Senator. This case, which started on social media and soon got the attention of federal law enforcement, is now over. The plea, which was made on October 2, is a turning point in an investigation that has been going on for months and started with a single post on the platform X.
Court documents say that the incident started on June 9, when 39-year-old Walter George Bechtel III used his X account to send a message directly to a U.S. Senator. The post combined political charges with graphic violence, and it ended with a sentence that alarmed authorities: “kill you personally old man,” with a smiling halo emoji. Even though the comment was short, it was enough to get federal authorities who keep an eye on internet threats to elected leaders to look into it immediately.
“You used to hate millionaires when you first started and then began to hate billionaires once you yourself became a millionaire through shady backroom deals. I will kill you personally old man. (Smiling Halo Emoji)”, the suspect wrote on X, the Department of Justice said in a release.
Bechtel admitted writing the post when investigators confronted him. The court papers say that he did not take back the threat and instead reaffirmed his plan to cause harm to the Senator. That statement made the case against him stronger and led federal prosecutors to charge him with interstate transmission of threatening communications, a crime that carries significant penalties.
Bechtel’s guilty plea means he now awaits sentencing, which has been scheduled for December 18. A district court judge will make the final ruling. They will look at the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors before making a decision.
Federal officials highlighted how severe the crime was. U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and U.S. Capitol Police Chief Michael G. Sullivan announced the plea. They additionally addressed the work of the Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section, which looks into threats made against senators. Their statement made it clear that threats made online are taken just as seriously as threats made in person, especially when they are aimed at national leaders.
Investigators are seeing more and more posts that make it hard to tell the difference between political speech and criminal intent. They need to act quickly to find out if a threat is real. In this case, Bechtel’s admission and the clear message made things very clear.
Marc Anton, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, is in charge of the case and is working with Capitol Police investigators to solve it. As the sentencing date gets closer, officials have told the public to check the U.S. Attorney’s Office website for more information.
The guilty plea ends one part of the lawsuit for now, but the upcoming hearing will decide what happens to Bechtel as a result of his actions. The case also serves as a warning that internet threats, especially those made in anger, can have serious legal consequences if they cross the line into criminal behavior.
