Florida Man Sentenced To Prison For Anti-Semitic Death Threats Against Sanders
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during the Democratic Presidential Committee (DNC) summer meeting on August 23, 2019 in San Francisco. Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
(Reuters) – A Florida man was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Friday for threatening to behead U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, federal prosecutors said.
The man, 58-year-old Robert Pratersch of Kissimmee, in September 2018 left three voicemail messages at Sanders’ Vermont office where he made anti-Semitic threats and threatened to kill Sanders by beheading him in an “ISIS-style” video.
Pratersch was convicted in April of threatening a federal official and making threats over interstate communications media in April. He could have been sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison.
A public defender representing Pratersch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As far as I can tell, this case got very little attention until the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida put out a press release on it last week.
Robert Pratersch, 58, was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in prison for leaving these voicemails for Sen. Bernie Sanders. pic.twitter.com/h8KJLGgLT2
— Nick Martin (@nickmartin) August 26, 2019
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