Montana Man Faces Years in Federal Prison for Angry Calls to Republican Leader Over Chinese Balloon

A Montana man is facing several years in prison after he made dozens of angry calls threatening former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after a Chinese spy balloon floated over his city.

Richard Rogers, 45, was convicted Wednesday by a federal jury of threatening to harm a member of congress, as well as two counts of making harassing telephone calls, as reported by the Associated Press. Prosecutors said that Rogers made more than 100 threatening phone calls to McCarthy's office in 2023, plus 150 more to the FBI tip line in 2021 and 2022.

The 45-year-old from Billings, Montana, made the 100 calls to McCarthy's office within just 75 minutes on Feb. 3, 2023. The day prior, the Pentagon had stated it was tracking the spy balloon and later shot it off the Atlantic coast.

Rogers' attorneys tried to argue that his use of obscenities in the calls were protected under freedom of speech, however prosecutors stated that Rogers crossed a line after threatening to harm McCarthy and saying abusive messages to his staffers and operators at the FBI.

"You can't talk to people that way. It's common sense," Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Godfrey told the jurors. "He's calling not out of political protest; he's calling because he gets enjoyment out of it."

Rogers faces up to six years in prison and a $250,000 for the threat conviction, and a maximum of two years and a $250,000 fine for the harassment charges.