Speaker of the House John Boehner is in the news again, but this time, it is not for his politics.
Instead, the speaker is in the news because he is the target of a death threat — from his bartender.
Michael R. Hoyt was formerly a bartender at Wetherington Country Club in West Chester Township, Ohio where Boehner is a member.
Hoyt was fired in October and said shortly thereafter he began to hear voices from the devil.
Hoyt heard the voices constantly telling him that Boehner was evil.
On Oct. 29 Hoyt called the police, and said he had to kill the speaker of the house.
The day before, police officers learned that Hoyt had contacted the speaker’s wife, Debbie Boehner, in a cryptic email.
Investigators said that the message was written by Hoyt requesting to speak with Boehner. In the email, Hoyt said he wished to speak with John Boehner about his termination from his bartending job because he thought Boehner was responsible.
In the email Hoyt also told her, “I have a dog and cat so please do not bust in. I will leave my lights on inside and out all night. You probably already know where I live.”
The police obtained a search warrant on Oct. 31, and when the police searched his house, they found journal entries with “Ebola” and “Boehner.”
In his journals, Hoyt claimed that Boehner was responsible for the Ebola outbreak, and he dreamed of exposing him for causing the epidemic.
During the search, the police also found several weapons in Hoyt’s house including a gun and an axe.
Hoyt told the investigators that he was Jesus Christ, and he intended to kill Boehner because he was evil and had caused the Ebola outbreak.
However, later Hoyt said he was not going to hurt Boehner, citing that he had had the opportunity to poison Boehner’s drink many times as he was a bartender at his country club, and served Boehner many times. There were no security protocols in place to make sure drinks served to the speaker were safe.
On Jan. 7, Hoyt was indicted by a grand jury on charges with threatening to murder a United States official, “namely, John Boehner, Speaker of the House of the United States Representatives, with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with such official while he was engaged in the performance of his official duties, and with the intent to retaliate against such an official on account of his official duties.”
A different Ohio man was arrested in another incident threatening Boehner on Wednesday. Christopher Lee Cornell was arrested Wednesday with more than 600 rounds of ammunition, guns and pipe bombs. Cornell is alleged to have also posted messages supporting the terrorist group ISIS.
state@dailytarheel.com
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