Norman man indicted on 10 counts after making threats on Parler

Reese Gorman, The Norman Transcript, Okla.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—A Norman resident who was charged and arrested by federal agents for making threats toward government and elected officials has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 10 counts of "communicating a threat."

Michael "Brad" Houck took to Parler — a right-wing social media app — to threaten lawmakers and government officials between Dec. 6 and Jan. 7, believing and acting on baseless and disproven claims that the November 2020 election was rigged and stolen.

Both the U.S Attorney's Office and Houck's defense attorney Taylor McLawhorn declined to comment Monday.

The indictment charges Houck with threats against Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY., Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-CA., former President George W. Bush and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Roberts.

Each of the 10 counts carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a maximum of three years supervised release.

In his preliminary hearing, Houck's federal public defense attorney Susan Otto argued that her client was one of a million Americans angry because they believed the election was stolen from Trump.

In social media posts, Houck took out his anger by threatening people who he felt allowed the steal to happen.

"Hey justice(sic) Roberts, we are coming for you and your ... kids!" Houck said in a Parler post. "...They will get to watch you hang;(sic)"

The case has been assigned to United States Senior District Judge Joe Heaton of the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Oklahoma.

Reese Gorman covers COVID-19, local politics and elections for The Transcript; reach him at rgorman@normantranscript.com or @reeseg_3.