A Michigan man has been sentenced to prison time for alleged threatening comments he made against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, other Democratic politicians and members of the LGBTQ+ community on YouTube.
On Thursday, 31-year-old Randall Berka was sentenced to 32 months of imprisonment, a sentence 5 months shorter than what prosecutors believed he should serve.
An investigation into Berka began in 2023, when law enforcement acquired knowledge of a YouTube account titled "kill all federal agents on sight and hang biden", reported the Detroit News.
The account had been posting threatening comments directed towards members of the LGBTQ+ community and Democratic politicians since Feb 2023. Many of the threats were directed towards Gov. Whitmer.
"[I'm] more than willing to kill whitmer and I do live in Michigan," read one threat. "ill assault her ugly face with my bullets."
"[I'm] gonna kill lgbt freaks and same America," read another.
FBI investigators were able to trace the account to Berka's home near Bay City. Furthermore, Berka goes as far as to acknowledge his identity in a threatening message posted to the same page.
"hey fbi! My name is randall the 2nd and I live in sebewaing Michigan and I am willing to kill these people, f--- it I don't care, f--- the feds, f--- them. Im not mentally ill for needing to be violent towards these people, call the ccops, f--- them. Ill shoot them too," he wrote. "I'll kill anyone who tries to take my guns. ANYONE. I AM DONE. TRY TO CONFISCATE THEM FROM ME AND I WILL KILL."
Berka has a history of mental disorders, including schizophrenia, resulting in him being committed to a mental institution.
Prosecutors argued that Berka, who is not allowed to own firearms due to his mental disorders, was provided weapons by his mother, Michelle Berka. Michelle herself was sentenced to probation in July after admitting to lying during the purchase of five firearms that were allegedly for herself.
"The former president made me a target and threw a lot of gas on the fire, and it has continued to burn and I think about it everywhere I go," said Gov. Whitmer, who was the target of a 2020 kidnapping conspiracy, in an interview last year.
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