The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that 34-year-old Sean Patrick Cirillo of Atlanta has entered a guilty plea to interstate threats to harm U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG).
The plea comes after Cirillo had previously threatened Representative Greene (R-Ga.) and her staff in Washington, D.C., a number of times in November 2023.
Both police and the media have refrained from posting Cirillo’s photograph, which prompted anger in social media users who argued on X (Twitter) that if the roles were reversed and a Republican citizen had threatened a Democrat Congresswoman, their image would be posted by a slew of news outlets.
“Threatening to kill a public official is reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “Our office will not tolerate any form of violence, threats, or intimidation against public officials. The prosecution of individuals who threaten the lives and welfare of public servants is a top priority for our office, as well as for our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.”
The special agent who heads Atlanta’s FBI agency, Keri Farley, made a statement as well.
“We will not normalize violent threats in America, whether targeting elected officials or average citizens. Our democracy depends on the ability of members of Congress to do their jobs without fearing for their safety. We will continue to prosecute threats against public servants made in any form,” Farley stated.
In three phone calls to Representative Greene’s office on November 8th, 2023, Cirillo made various threats on her life.
Some of the threats included remarks like: “I got a bead on her. Like a sniper rifle. A sniper rifle. And I’m gonna kill her next week. I’m gonna murder her,” as well as “I’ll kill you too if you want,” and “You’re gonna die. Your family is gonna die.”
Cirillo is not the first person to be charged with a crime in relation to threatening the Georgia representative. After entering a guilty plea to leaving threatening voicemails during calls to Greene’s office in 2022, Joseph Morelli of Endicott, New York, was sentenced to three months in jail last year.
MTG’s official website reads: “It is my honor to serve the good people of Northwest Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives. Our government is supposed to work for the American people, not foreign nations, lobbyists, or special interests. That’s why I ran for Congress: to hold our government accountable and ensure that every policy coming out of Washington, D.C. is designed to put America First.”
