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A former Voice of America employee and reserve police officer was arrested Thursday after allegedly making continuous threats to murder Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and her family over a span of nearly two years.
Seth Jason, 64, of Maryland, was arrested by the United States Capitol Police (USCP) and is facing a four-count indictment for allegedly influencing a federal official by threatening a family member, influencing a federal official by threat, interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure and anonymous telecommunications harassment.
Police also seized a laptop, several telephones, an iPad and multiple thumb drives.
During a news conference on Thursday, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the threats were made “repeatedly and continuously” from October 2023 through the end of January this year.
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The threats allegedly targeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, her family, and her staff. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Pirro said Jason was accused of making statements including, “I’m looking forward to your book signing. We are all armed and ready to take care of you. We’re coming after you and your staff, and we are locked and loaded. We’re going to take you all out. We’ve got our AK-47s. You’re going to get one between the eyes. Bam, bam, bam.”
Staff members at Greene’s offices were also threatened, including the staff members’ families, according to Pirro.
Seth Jason, a former Voice of America employee, made threatening calls to the Dalton and Rome District Offices for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R, Ga., according to the DOJ. (Getty Images)
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Making the case even more egregious, Pirro said Jason was a “rogue” former full-time federal government employee at Voice of America. She said he used phones in the control rooms where broadcasters were reporting to make the threats.
He is currently unemployed after retiring from Voice of America a few months ago. The retirement came as President Donald Trump ordered the dismantling of the U.S.’s state-funded media outlet, with a federal judge later restoring the agency.
“Through the leadership of President Trump, this sprawling federal bureaucracy is being held accountable, including through the work of Kari Lake, who is senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America.”
Lake took to social media to thank Pirro for “taking these threats seriously.”
Kari Lake is responsible for overseeing Voice of America in the Trump administration. (Getty Images)
“I am sickened by what Congresswoman @RepMTG, her staff and their families had to go through as the threats persisted for 15 months! It angers me that a taxpayer-funded VOA employee would use taxpayer-funded equipment in a depraved way to threaten the lives of people, including an elected official,” Lake wrote in a post on X. “If he is found guilty, I hope he is sentenced to the maximum amount of time behind bars.”
Lake also said it’s time to shut Voice of America down.
Meanwhile, Pirro vowed to hold government employees to the highest standards.
“No one should have to live their life looking over their shoulder every day and wondering if those threats are about to be fulfilled… The threat to have your family murdered as well as yourself, is debilitating.”
“My message today should be loud and clear: This behavior is a crime,” she added. “You threaten a public official, and you’ll face the full force of the law crushing down on you. There will be no mercy and no excuses.”
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U.S. Capitol Police Chief Mike Sullivan said the view of threats against lawmakers has changed since former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in their Minnesota home.
The suspect in the Hortman murders, Vance Boelter, also allegedly shot Minnesota state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, on the same morning.
“We are going to work very, very hard to hold you accountable if you make these threats,” Sullivan said.
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Jason, who was a volunteer reserve officer with the Anne Arundel County Police Department, is no longer associated with the agency, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Pirro said there is no reason to believe Jason was involved in prior swatting incidents reported by Greene.
Greene’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.