Pennsylvania man indicted for threat to kill Jan 6 committee chair Bennie Thompson

A Pennsylvania man who escaped from jail earlier this year before being captured in South Carolina has been indicted by a US grand jury for threatening to kill Rep Bennie Thompson, the chair of the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.

The man, Robert Vargo, is facing a bevy of other criminal charges related to his threat to kill Mr Thompson, Mr Thompson’s family, and President Joe Biden, per Reuters. He is also charged with threatening the president, threat by interstate communications, and influencing a federal official by threat.

Mr Vargo, 25 years old, is a resident of Berwick, Pennsylvania — a town of just over 10,000 people located roughly 30 miles southwest of Wilkes-Barre in the center of the state.

Columbia County, where Berwick is located, voted for former President Donald Trump by more than 30 percentage points. Mr Biden won the state, and its coveted 20 electoral votes, by a margin over just over one percentage point.

Pennsylvania was at the center of Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the result of the election, which Mr Biden won by more than 70 electoral votes. Mr Trump alleged, without evidence, that the votes in Pennsylvania and a handful of other competitive states were marred by irregularities and encouraged protests like the riot on January 6.

Mr Thompson emerged as a leader in the House effort to investigate what happened on January 6 and Mr Trump’s role in it — apparently irking Mr Vargo, who is now facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the crimes he is charged with.

Mr Vargo allegedly sent an envelope or package with white powder to Mr Thompson’s congressional office, along with a letter laying out his threat, according to Reuters.

“I’m going to kill you! I will make you feel the rest of our pain & suffering,” the letter to Mr Thompson read. “There is nowhere or nobody who can keep you from me. I am going to kill you & those you love.”

Prosecutors say that the letter, sent from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, also threatened US District Court Judge Robert Mariani. Mr Vargo escaped from incarceration in the correctional facility over the summer before being captured and taken back into custody several days later in South Carolina.

Mr Thompson’s January 6 committee recently announced that it will subpoena Mr Trump to testify in the coming days or weeks as it reaches the final stages of its investigation.