Federal prosecutors have charged a Las Vegas man for making a series of antisemitic, misogynistic calls to a U.S. senator in Nevada, allegedly threatening to “exterminate” her.
John Anthony Miller, a 43-year-old Las Vegan, was charged Friday with one count of threatening a federal official after allegedly leaving a series of voicemails containing antisemitic death threats this month to a Nevada senator, including threatening to “finish what Hitler started.”
The criminal complaint, obtained by The Nevada Independent and first reported by The Daily Beast, does not specify which Nevada senator Miller allegedly threatened. But of Nevada’s two senators, both Democrats, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is Jewish, and an outspoken supporter of Israel. Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, she has been active in the Senate and on social media in defending the Jewish state and working to secure aid for its military.
The episode coincides with a rise in threats against public officials over the last five years, according to researchers at the University of Nebraska, and an increase in antisemitic incidents, particularly since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, per the State Department.
Rosen’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. The federal public defender’s office of Nevada also did not respond to a request for comment, and Miller’s public defender declined to comment to The Daily Beast.
According to the criminal complaint, Miller left several voicemails with the senator’s office between Oct. 11 and 19 with disturbing, profanity-laden threats of violence. In one rant, Miller allegedly called the senator “vermin” and “subhuman.”
Miller allegedly told the senator he would “see you soon” and, referring to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, allegedly left a voicemail on Oct. 19 asking whether the senator had “Israeli settler” family members, and calling her complicit in crimes in the West Bank, allegedly saying, “You’re gonna burn in hell, bitch.”
Per the complaint, Miller also went to the federal Lloyd George Courthouse in Las Vegas on the morning of Oct. 18, stating his intent to see the senator. He was refused entry after a security guard asked for a closer look at his identification.
The complaint says Miller then “became agitated,” shouting profanities and threatening to kill “Israeli terrorists” while walking down Las Vegas Boulevard.
Miller then allegedly left another violent voicemail for the senator, using an unidentified number, on Oct. 24.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district of Nevada used security footage, prior 911 calls made by Miller, and a photo from a previous arrest in 2022 to identify Miller and arrested him on Oct. 26. He will have a preliminary hearing in November.
The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of one year and a potential fine.
