A Florida man has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of making a threat to kill after he called the Supreme Court in July and left an expletive-laden voice message in which he twice threatened to slay one of the justices.
Prosecutors have not identified the justice who was targeted.
Neal Brij Sidhwaney, 43, agreed to plead guilty last week and prosecutors announced the plea Monday.
According to court documents, a judge had ordered Sidhwaney to undergo a psychological evaluation to determine whether he was competent to stand trial. Based on that evaluation, the court found him competent, though Sidhwaney was experiencing “auditory hallucinations” and “delusional symptoms associated with schizophrenia.”
Sidhwaney faces up to five years in prison for the charge of transmitting an interstate threat to kill.
The Supreme Court has been buffeted by threats and increasing animosity from the public in recent years, with Democrats fueling anger at the conservative-leaning court’s rulings and operations.
The leak last year of a draft opinion in a case that would eventually overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision sparked new threats against the justices.
One man was arrested outside Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Maryland home with a pistol, ammunition, zip ties, pepper spray, duct tape and a knife, and plans to break into the justice’s home and kill him, according to authorities who caught the man.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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