Man arrested after making a death threat toward Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino, police say

A 64-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after making a death threat towards Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., police reported.

Kenneth Gasper from Long Island has been charged with aggravated harassment for threats made towards Garbarino, according to Nassau County police.

The threats came after Garbarino, who represents parts of Long Island, voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, a $1.2 trillion package that's part of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. He was one of 13 House Republicans to vote in favor of the bill.

Gasper called Garbarino’s district office and cursed at staff when they answered the call. Gasper then called Garbarino a RINO, which stands for “Republicans in name only.” Gasper also threatened to kill Garbarino on the street if he saw him.

More: House GOP members who voted for infrastructure bill face backlash from Republican colleagues

“I’ve had the police at my house, and they’re more concerned about these [threats] that have been coming in than the ones I’ve gotten in the past,” Garbarino told The New York Post.

“There are members of Congress that are fundraising off of their misinformation and attacking us, and it’s causing us to get death threats on the other side.”

House GOP members who voted for infrastructure bill face criticism

Since the vote on infrastructure last week, several Republicans faced backlash for their support, including from their fellow GOP colleagues.

“RINOS just passed this wasteful $1.2 trillion dollar ‘infrastructure’ bill. Pelosi did not have the votes in her party to pass this garbage. Time to name names and hold these fake republicans accountable," said Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

Along with Garbarino, GOP Reps. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, David B. McKinley of West Virginia, Fred Upton of Michigan, Tom Reed of New York, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Don Young of Alaska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and John Katko of New York voted for the bill.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tweeted out the phone numbers of the 13 Republicans following the vote. She said that they “handed over their voting cards to Nancy Pelosi to pass Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America” through the infrastructure package.

The move resulted in Upton, one of those in favor of the bill, to receive a voicemail from an anonymous caller which said, ““I hope your f------ family dies. I hope everybody in your f------ staff dies, you f------ piece of f------ s---. Traitor!”

Upton told USA TODAY on Friday that a majority of the threatening calls he has received have come from Georgia, Greene's home state.

“I think many of us have received a number of death threats in the last week prompted by our colleague 'MTG' who put out our names and phone numbers," Upton said. "We've been swamped with calls, primarily from out of state calls. Many from Georgia, where she's from. [It's] a very toxic climate, and she helped put more wood in the fire.”

The infrastructure bill is one of two spending packages that are priorities for Biden. The approved bill allocates funds to improve highways, bridges and public transit across the country.

“After months of being held hostage by Progressive Democrats, the House was finally able to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Garbarino said on Twitter following last Friday’s vote. “Make no mistake, tonight’s vote was about roads, bridges, and clean water. It was about real people, and the tangible actions Congress could take to better their lives by rebuilding and revitalizing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.”

Contributing: Savannah Behrmann, Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York man arrested after threat against Republican Andrew Garbarino